Under the Red Moon
by The Last Kunoichi
Summary: She knew she couldn't talk... But she wished a voice would form inside her and tell him without fear... but of course it was an impossible wish... ShikaxOC At long last, it's COMPLETE!
1. The New Girl in Town

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Shikamaru yawned, gazing up at the clouds, listening to Chouji munch on his chips and Ino fuss over her clothes and hair. Asuma-sensei was late for some reason. This wasn't like him. Usually, he was here before any of them

"Oh, where is Asuma-sensei!?" demanded Ino, pulling her ponytail tighter. "The heat's making my hair frizz up; I wanna go some place cool!" Shikamaru sighed.

_Hair, clothes, physical appearence... _he thought. _It's all such a drag... I really don't know why she gets all worked up over something as simple as a strand of hair outta place..._

"Hey, Team. Sorry I'm late," said Asuma's voice. Shikamaru made an annoyed face and sat up, glancing around the forest clearing until he spotted his teacher.

But he wasn't alone.

Following Asuma was a girl who looked about thirteen. She was a head shorter than most thirteen year olds, and looked kind of skinny. She had dark eyes, black hair, a slightly ski jump nose, and full lips. She wore a red tank top, a black skirt tied loosely over black cotton leggings. Bandages were wrapped around her shins, and, like any ninja, her red bandana was tied around her head, hidden slightly by her bangs.

"Hey, who're you?" Ino asked, glancing at the girl. She didn't answer. Instead, Asuma spoke.

"This is Shizuka Kobayashi from the Kobayashi clan," he explained. "She's new to the Konaha, and hasn't been put in a team yet, so the Hokage put her in our team until further notice. Sure, it may be bending the rules a little, but oh well."

"Oh, and which village are you from?" Ino inquired, studying Shizuka.

"She's from the Getsugakure, the Moon Village," Asuma said. "The clan moved because..." he turned to Shizuka. "Why did your clan move again?" Shizuka didn't say anything, only took up a fighting stance.

"Oh, that's right," Asuma nodded. "The Kobayashi clan moved because the Getsugakure is at war with the Tonobogakure, the Dragonfly village." Shizuka tapped Asuma on the shoulder, took up a fighting stance, pointed to herself and shook her head.

"Oh yeah, that's right," Asuma added, "the Kobayashi's weren't called to battle, so, for their own safety, they came here."

"What's wrong?" Ino asked Shizuka. "Cat got your tongue?" Shizuka shook her head and put her hands over her mouth.

"Oh, you don't _feel_ like talking?" guessed Chouji, shoving more chips in his mouth. Shizuka shook her head again, pointed to herself, and pointed to her mouth.

"You're... too shy to talk?" Ino assumed. Asuma rolled his eyes and stopped the charades game.

"No, no," he said. "Shizuka _can't_ talk, she was born like that."

"Ohhh, I see," Ino nodded. "So you're mute?" Shizuka nodded.

"Let me introduce my students," Asuma offered to the new girl. "This is Ino Yamanaka-" Ino gave a casual wave and a wink. "-the boy with the light brown hair is Choji Akimichi, from the Akimichi clan-" Choji mumbled a 'hi' as he stuffed more chips in his mouth. "-and the last boy is Shikamaru Nara, from the Nara clan." Shikamaru lazily raised his hand in greeting, looking disinterested. Shizuka waved to her new temporary team mates, smiling warmly.

"Okay, everybody who is currently on their rear ends, UP!" Asuma ordered. Shikamaru slowly got up, Chouji following, putting his empty chip bag in his pocket. Shizuka surveyed her team mates.

_Well, Ino seems very inquistive, Chouji evidently like to eat, and Shikamaru looks kinda tired... What an interesting team... _Shizuka joined Team 10 as they assembled in a single line infront of Asuma.

"We won't be going on any missions today," he said to the four teens before him. "You'll spar here instead. You'll pair up in two for one on one combat to start." The teacher turned to Shizuka. "Part of this is for me to get a general idea about your abilities, strong points, and weak points. Understood?" The team nodded. "Good. Pair up." Shikamaru and Choji paired up right away, leaving Shizuka with Ino.

"Now, don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're the newbie around here," Ino warned. Shizuka put on her game face and nodded. And the battle commenced.

The two girls started their fight using basic tai-jutsu. Ino learnt Shizuka knew quite a bit of tai-jutsu. She was quick to react and her hits were very precise. By the time the girls decided to switch techniques, Ino had a bloody lip, and Shizuka had a cut cheek.

The new girl made a few quick hand signs, mouthing the words, "Rat! Monkey! Dragon! Ram!" Afterwards, she mouthed a few words that Ino couldn't read. Suddenly, the blonde kunoichi barely dodge a huge mound of earth that rose up near her. Shizuka kept her hands glued in a ram seal, her black eyes following Ino as she moved.

Ino had to constantly move, for everytime she kept her feet in one place, another mound of earth would try and throw her off. Fianlly, she just leaped into the air, trying to escape her opponent's jutsu. She looked down at Shizuka who just stared straight back.

_She has to always track my movements to direct her attacks, _she noted. She continued to observe her adversary. _Wait! That's it! _Ino smiled and landed, avoiding another earth mound that rose up to meet her. She swerved out of the way of the other mounds as she ran at Shizuka. She bore her blue eyes into Shizuka's black ones as she made the ram seal with her hand and aimed her jutsu at her opposer...

Shizuka stared back into Ino's eyes without blinking, unafraid of the girl running at her, stalling her with her Earth Eminence Jutsu.

_C'mon! _she thought, grinning. _Surely you would know some jutsu too? _Suddenly, as Ino made what looked like a lopsided 'O' with her hands, Shizuka felt something hit her in the chest. Not hard, but it did feel like a gust of wind had hit her...

_Well, well, so this is what being Shizuka__ feels like? _Ino thought, looking around through Shizuka's eyes. _Hey, she's mute, I wonder what'll happen if I speak... _Ino glanced at Shikamaru and Chouji fighting. Shikamaru had Chouji paralyzed by his Shadow Possession Jutsu. Ino drew in a breath and held, "Choji! You're lousy at dodging attacks!" But no sounds came out of Shizuka's mouth.

_Hm... No voice at all... That'd drive me crazy! _Ino looked down at Shizuka's hands that were still glued together in a ram seal.

_Well, the fun's over, Dirt Princess, _she thought, pulling Shizuka's hands apart. After that, Ino ended her Mind Transfer Jutsu, and went back into her own body...

Shizuka stumbled a little, as if pushed, but no one was behind her. She furrowed her brow. She felt like she had woken up from a short nap, but she knew she had been here the whole time, fighting Ino.

_What happened? _she wondered.

"Alright, that's enough," Asuma's voice sounded on the edge of the claering. The two pairs stopped fighting, and approached their sensei. Asuma addressed Shikamaru first.

"First things first, Shikamaru you looked asleep on yout feet over there," he said. "This may just be a practise, but it's still a fight, so treat it like one." Shikamaru gave an exasperated sigh.

"Practise fights tire me... And I didn't get as much sleep as I usually do last night..." was his excuse. Asuma ignored him an turned to Ino and Shizuka.

"Ino, good job at dodging Shizuka's attacks," he said. Ino smiled, proudly as Asuma turned his gaze over to the new girl.

"Shizuka, what technique was that?" he asked. Shizuka tapped the ground.

"Ground?" Shizuka shook her head.

"Dirt?" Another shake.

"Earth?" Shizuka nodded and made a wide arc with her hands.

"Circle?"

Nope.

"Hill?"

Nope. Shizuka just mouthed the word, hoping her teacher would be able to read her lips. Thankfully, he was able to.

"Oh, eminence?" Shizuka nodded and made a random hand sign.

"Justu?" Nod. Asuma smiled.

"Okay, so that was an Earth Eminence Justu? You do it well." Shizuka smiled and blushed. She liked being complimented.

"Okay, now we'll do some physical training," Asuma said. "All four of you jog down the main forest path until you reach the tree that got knocked down in that storm a couple of weeks ago, then jog back here." Shizuka heard the two boys groan. Asuma told them to stop complaining and just do it. Shizuka was about to run off, but she realized she was new here and didn't know where she was supposed to go. Asuma sensed her uneasiness and approached her.

"Just follow the others," he said. Shizuka nodded, and followed Ino down a clear forest path out of the clearing.

The Konaha's forest was quite nice. All sorts of trees rose high above the team's heads, their magnificent branches reaching for the sun high in the sky; The lush green grass was carpeted all over the forest floor, excluding the path the team was jogging on, which was just dirt; flowers bloomed in various patches of grass; and the occasional chirp of a bird could be heard.

Shizuka looked around at her surroundings as she jogged, smiling. She looked behind her. Shikamaru was behind her, jogging slowly, and Chouji was behind him, trotting even slower, breathing heavily.

_That boy doesn't seem to be in very good shape, _she observed. _And the other boy looks like this is the last thing he wants to do. _Shizuka gave an inward smile. This was one of the good things about being mute: She could say whatever she wanted about anyone, and they wouldn't know. She turned her head back around and sped up her pace to catch up with Ino, who was faster than she looked.

After five minutes of jogging, Ino came to an abrupt halt, causing Shizuka to nearly collide into her. She looked up. One of the forest's huge trees was on it's side, blocking their way. Ino turned around.

"It's time to head back!" she announced to Shikamaru and Chouji, whose face looked like a giant tomato by this point. Ino made her way past the other three and jogged back down the path. Shizuka followed her, keeping a controlled pace.

Once Shizuka made it back to the clearing with the others, there was light perspiration on her forehead and she was breathing a little heavier. But, Asuma wasn't finished with the training yet.

"Good, you all made it," he said. "Ten push ups." Chouji let out a tired yell, expressing his displesure.

Shizuka took in a breath, got down on her hands and feet and started, watching the others to the exercise. Ino seemed a little tired but alright none the less, Shikamaru still looked very unenthusiastic, and Choji looked as if he was going to collaps.

The rest of the training was followed by twenty sit ups, ten leg lifts, and five pull ups on a near by branch. By the time the four teens were cooling off, everyone was breathing deeply, red cheeked, and tired. Ino sat in a circle with the others, resting and studying the new girl at the same time.

_Well, she's no good at avoiding my Mind Transfer Jutsu, and she nearly died doing the pull ups, _she thought. _But she's really good with her own jutsus, and her motor kept running the whole way through... My conclusion: She's cool... But the poor girl probably doesn't have any friends yet, or any boys that have crushes on her... Poor thing, so new to the way things work around here_. Ino smiled. She had an idea.

"Okay, that was good training today, Team," Asuma said to his students. He turned to Shizuka. "We'll most likely go on a mission tomorrow. Are you ready?" Shizuka gave a definate nod. Asuma smiled.

"Good. Dismissed." The young ninja got up, said their good byes, and started to head home. Ino hung back, keeping her eye on Shizuka, who was fixing her tank top and tightening her bandana. Once Chouji and Shikamaru were out of the clearing, Ino ran up to Shizuka and stood infront of her.

"Hey, there," she said. "Do you have any plans tonight?" Shizuka shook her head and cocked her head to one side, asking Ino why.

"Well, I don't either," she said. "I was wondering, since you're new here and stuff, if you wanted to sleep over at my house tonight." _I'll take her under my wing, _Ino promised. _It's practically my duty... It would be a shame to watch this pretty little thing spiral downwards due to her unfamiliarity to the Konaha._

Shizuka smiled. It was her first week in the Leaf village and she was already being invited over to people's houses. She nodded her head, entusiastically.

"Alright, cool," Ino smiled. "Be over at my place say... five o' clock?" Shizuka nodded. "Okay, see there." With a wave, Ino walked off.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Yay! First chapter done! I feel so special.**


	2. Pierced Ears

**Thanks for the reviews, people, they made my day! **

**--**

_Someday, I'll find you  
Someday, I'll tell you it's true  
Be my tongue tied, or my eyes shut,  
I'll still love you no matter what.  
But for now, I dream we'll meet soon,  
As you hold me tightly under the red moon..._

"Shizuka, what'er you doing in here?" Shizuka's mother, Midori, asked, walking into her daughter's room. Shizuka, who was lying on her bed, held up her iPod, telling her mother she was listening to music. Midori put her hands on her hips.

"It's four thirty, shouldn't you be packing up to go to your friend's house?" Shizuka nodded, turned off her iPod and started to pull clothes out of her dresser, stuffing them in a near by bag as fast as possible.

"Relax, you have time," Midori said. "I was just telling you that you should start packing now so you can avoid this." She gestured to the messy heap of clothes that were half in, half out of Shizuka's bag. Shizuka sat on the floor, picked out one article of clothing from the pile and started to fold them properly.

"Are walking over to your friend's?" Shizuka nodded, placing one of her neatly folded shirts back in her bag. Midori glanced at the clock. "So what time are you leaving?" she asked. Shizuka raised four fingers on one hand and five on the other.

"Alright, well, tell me when it's four forty-five so I can see you off," Midori told her daughter, walking out of the room. Shizuka grabbed her iPod off her bed, stuck the head phones back in her ears, and continued listening to her song as she folded her clothes, mouthing some of the words.

Once four forty-five rolled around, Shizuka was all packed and ready to go. She said goodbye to her mom and left the house, walking out into the streets of the Leaf Village.

The sun was already starting to sink in the sky, casting shadows about the street as Shizuka continued to walk to Ino's house. She smiled. She was really starting to like the Konaha. When Shizuka's mom had told her they had to leave the Getsugakure, Shizuka was completely against it: She'd be leaving her friends, her teachers, her home, et cetra. But, after the first few days of living in her new village, she learnt the Hidden Lead Village wasn't so bad. Besides, being a ninja was what she practically lived for, and she was put into a team faster than she thought she would.

_They're only temporary, _Shizuka told herself. _Lady Hokage said she'll put me in a diffrent team once she found one that was incomplete. _Still, the girl liked her temporary team mates. Especially Ino.

_She's so nice, _Shizuka thought. _I'm glad I've got a friend now... I was worried I was going to have the 'loner' label stuck to my forhead when I got here! _Suddenly, Shizuka saw Ino's house up ahead.

It was a fairly large house. It was covered in white paneling, had grey tiles, and a small porch that lead up to the front door. Shizuka climbed the cement stairs, approached the door, and rang the doorbell. She immideately heard a sharp, high-pitched yipping of a small dog sound from the other side of the door.

"Soba! Go lie down!" yelled Ino's voice. The door opened. Ino smiled at Shizuka.

"Oh, hey," she said. "Come in." Ino made way for Shizuka to pass. As Shizuka stepped over the threshold, she saw the source of the yipping from before.

Standing near the door was a small little dog with a squished in face, a silky black and white coat, and fluffy, floppy ears. It looked up at Shizuka with it's head cocked to one side. It reminded her of what she did when she was confused too. Ino walked up beside her and pet the dog on the head.

"This is Soba," she said. "He's a Japanese Spaniel. Do you have a dog?" Shizuka shook her head. She didn't, but she wanted one.

"Ino, what's Soba barking at?" asked a male voice. Shizuka looked up. Approaching the two girls was a fairly tall man that looked a lot like Ino. He had the same long blonde ponytail, roughly the same facial structure, and the same small, hooped earings. Ino stood up straight, drawing her hand from her pet's head.

"Nothing, Dad," she said. She turned to Shizuka. "This is my dad. Dad, this is Shizuka, she's our new team mate." Shizuka waved, smiling. Ino's father gave her a nod.

"So, Ino tells me you're from the Moon Village, right?" Shizuka nodded. "Do you like the Konaha so far?" Another nod.

"C'mon, I gotta show you my room," Ino said to Shizuka. The two girls ascended the stairs, Soba trotting at their heels. Ino's second floor was a corridor with wooden floor boards and walls decorated with various pictures either of each individual of the family, or everyone together. Ino lead Shizuka down the hallways until they came to a wooden door with a fashionable 'Keep Out' sign hanging on the door knob. Ino turned it and let Shizuka into her room.

Ino's room was a big room. It had lavendar carpeting, and purple walls with various posters and pictures on them. Her bed was big, soft looking bed with a pastel coloured bed spread. In one corner of the room was a big dresser that had hearts as handles, and beside that was a wooden books case that held many books of diffrent genres. Her room was much nicer and cleaner than Shizuka's at the moment, due to moving and all.

_Lucky, _Shizuka thought. She smiled and turned to Ino.

"Like it?" she asked. "My parents let me choose the colours myself." Shizuka nodded. Ino definately had a good sense of style. Ino walked over to her window and opened it a little.

"My mom got us a scary movie for later," she said. "You're not scared easily, are you?" Shizuka shook her head. "Good, because I read this review about this movie in a magazine once, and apperently, it's really scary." Shizuka smiled. Watching the horror film later would be fun, but what were they going to do right now?

"Hey, if you don't mind me asking," Ino said, sitting on her bed, Soba jumping up on her comforter as well. "Why exactly are you mute?"

Shizuka knew she couldn't answer this with actions, so she dug into her travel bag, pulled out a small note pad and pen that she had in it's front pocket, scribbled some words down and handed it to Ino.

_"I was born without a larynx" _is what it read. Ino raised her eyebrows.

"That sucks," she said, handing the note pad back to Shizuka. Shizuka shrugged and scribbed some more words down on the paper:

_"It's not that bad... I mean, I've had to deal with being silent for thirteen years of existence, and I've learnt that it makes me who I am. Besides, it really helps when I have to be quiet on certain mission." _Ino shrugged.

"I guess so," she said. "But when you and I sparred, I used my Mind Transfer Jutsu on you, and I tried to talk, but I couldnt; That'd drive me up the wall!" Shizuka wrote some more on her paper.

_"Oh, is that why I felt like a had woken up from sleeping after you did this weird thing with your hands?" _Ino nodded.

"Yes, and that's also why your hands weren't in a seal afterwards: I had entered your mind and stopped your jutsu." It was Shizuka's turn to raise her eyebrows.

_"Wow, that's cool. Tell me about your mind jutsu, I'm curious." _Ino told her friend that mind jutsus were signature jutsus of the Yamanaka family, and that she had worked hard with them. Shizuka smiled.

_"I wish I could do that," _she wrote. _"Does your family do anything else?" _

"Well, I do work in our flower shop," she said. "I've always liked flowers. And arranging them."

_" I love roses," _Shizuka wrote. _"And jasmines." _Ino smiled.

"Me too," she said. "We have them both in our shop." Shizuka smiled, and glanced around Ino's room again. She noticed a picture that stood on the dresser. She pointed to it.

"What?" Ino followed Shizuka's finger. "Oh." The blonde got off the bed, walked over to her dresser and picked the picture up.

"It's a picture of us," she said, showing Shizuka. In the middle of the picture, stood Ino smiling happily (_She's so photogenic! _Shizuka thought). To her right stood Shikamaru, not smiling at all, still looking bored, and to her left stood Chouji smiling widely. Behind the teens stood Asuma smiling, his cigarete still in his mouth. Shizuka smiled.

_"I like you guys, you're really nice," _she wrote, showing Ino. The other kunoichi smiled in response. Shizuka glanced back at the photo. She added something to her sentance: _"And you guys all seem to have those silver hooped earings. I wish I had my ears pierced." _After reading that sentance, Ino got a strange look on her face, as if she just had an epiphany. Shizuka furrowed her brow, staring at the shocked-looking girl.

"I have a great idea!" Ino said, finally. She approached Shizuka, pushed her long black hair back, and inspected the side of her head.

"Perfect!" she said. "Now that you're a part of Team 10, you can wear the earings like all of us! I can pierce your ears for you! I know how." Shizuka got a scared look on her face. She liked Ino, but as far as ramming needles through her ear lobes went, she would just rather not do that. She quickly scrawled her refusal down on a clean sheet of paper in the note book.

_"Oh, that's alright... Thank you, though." _

"Aw, c'mon," Ino said. "You'll be just like us, and they'll look so nice in your ears." She gestured to a chair in the corner of her room. "Sit yourself down and relax, I'll be right back." With that, Ino disappeared. Shizuka sighed. She was mildly afraid of needles and was skeptical about Ino's piercing skills. But, if it meant social acceptance with her new team, then Shizuka sat herself down in the chair and waited until her friend came back.

Moments later, Ino stepped back into the room, her arms and hands full with a pair of small silver earings, a small bowl, a bottle of alcohol, a tray of ice cubes, paper towel, pliers, and a ominously large sewing needle. Shizuka gave her a scared look as she set her materials down on the dresser.

"Oh, don't worry," Ino said. "My grandma pierced my ears this way, and it wasn't so bad." Shizuka watched her friend pour some alcohol in the bowl and drop the sewing needle and earings in it.

"It's to disinfect them," Ino explained. "It's a simple procedure, Shizuka. All I'm going to do is hold an ice cube behind your ear lobe so that the needle doens't go into your neck while I pierce your ears with it, then I'll simply put the earings in for you."

_"What are the pliers for?" _Shizuka asked, still apprehensive.

"They're for prying the ice cube off the needle," Ino said. "Don't be so scared, nothing bad's gonna happen. By the end, you'll have pretty earings like the rest of us in your ears." She took the earings and sewing needle out of the alcohol filled bowl and put them on a paper towel sheet she tore from the roll. After that, Ino pried an ice cube from the tray and held it to the back of Shizuka's ear lobe. The cold, slippery surface made Shizuka shuddered as she shut her eyes.

"Okay, hole number one," Ino said. With that, Shizuka flinched slightly, letting out a small gasp as she felt a bee sting her ear lobe. Afterwards, the stinging sensation speard through her whole ear. Ino grabbed the pliers and pried the ice cube from the needle, setting it down on another paper towel sheet. Once her hand was free, Ino picked up one small hooped earing, pulling the needle out of Shizuka's ear, and stuck the earing in the new hole.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" she asked. Shizuka shook her head, feeling the stinging sensation subsiding now. Ino smile.

"What did I tell you?" she said, cheerfully. She held another cube of ice to Shizuka's other ear lobe and did the same procedure as before: Needle, pliers, earings. By the end, Shizuka's ears were a little sore, but she was smiling as she gazed at her reflection in Ino's hand mirror, the pretty little earings dangling from her ear lobes.

"You can keeps those," Ino offered. "They were an extra pair I had." Shizuka mouthed two words she knew Ino could read: "Thank you".

"No problem," Ino said, admiring her work. "You look great." Shizuka smiled wider. She officaly felt like a member of Team 10 now. Suddenly a thought hit her.

_Mom's gonna kill me! _she thought, worried all of a sudden. But her uneasiness soon disappeared as Ino put her stuff away and headed for the door.

"C'mon," she said, cheerfully. "My mom said it was supper time when I went down there."

--

**Well, there's the next chapter done. Hope you liked it!**


	3. Boy Talk

After supper, the sun had set a great deal, so the two girls decided to hide away in Ino's basement with the light turned off to watch the scary movie on her T.V. down there. Ino was right about the film being scary. Shizuka had jumped so many times and at one point, gasped so loud that she was sure it could be heard upstairs. One thing that was for sure was that Ino was so loud that her mother had to yell at them to be quiet at one point.

After the movie it was about nine thirty, so Ino and Shizuka got changed into their pajamas and stayed up in Ino's room, talking. Ino had put on a C.D. so that there was some background noise and nobody could hear their conversation.

Shizuka knew who was now serenading from Ino's radio. It was a band called Hasu. They were the band she was listening to earlier on her iPod. Shizuka's favorite song Hasu sung was called Under the Red Moon. Once that song came on, Shizuka told Ino.

"I love this song too," Ino said, sitting on her bed and petting Soba at the same time. "It always somehow reminds me of Sasuke."

_"Who's Sasuke?" _Shizuka asked, showing Ino her note pad.

"Who's Sasuke!?" she repeated, sounding scandalized. "Ha! Only the hottest thing on two legs in the Konaha!"

_"Is he our age?" _Shizuka asked. Ino nodded. _"What does he look like?" _

"Well, he's tall," Ino started, getting a dazed look on her face. "He's got long-ish spikey black hair, which make his look _sooo_ sexy... And, oh my God, he has gorgeous deep black eyes! When he looks at me, I feel like I'm going to melt!"

_"He does sound attractive," _Shizuka nodded. _"Do you think you have a chance with him?" _

"Of course," Ino said, smiling. Suddenly, her sweet, happy smile disappeared. "However, I don't get to see him very often becuase he's not on my team, and I've gotta compete for him with Sakura!"

_"Who's Sakura?" _Shizuka asked.

"Sakura Haruno is a dumb little dreamer who is determined to ruin my chances with Sasuke!" Ino exclaimed, getting angry. "I'm assuming you've never seen her before, right, Shizuka?" Shizuka nodded.

"Well, she has absolutely no chance with Sasuke! Not with that gigantic forhead of her's! You should see it, Shizuka, her brow's so big you could use it as a billboard... Which is why I call her Billboard Brow... She thinks she's going to win Sasuke's heart over just becuase he's on her team, but she won't! Not in a million years!"

_"I know how frustrating it is to compete for affection," _Shizuka wrote. _"Back in the Getsu, when I was twelve, I liked this guy called Katsu and so did this other girl, Aina. It was really annoying."_

"Yeah, but you weren't friends with this Aina girl when you were little, right?" Ino asked. Shizuka shook her head. Ino frowned bitterly. "Well, technically, you're lucky 'cause Sakura and I used to be best friends, but then we both fell in love with Sasuke, and she decided to end it all! After all I did for her! I stood up for her, gave her self confidence... Heck, I even gave her a pretty little bow for her hair!" Shizuka raised her eye brows and started to write on a clean page.

_"She did!? How mean! I wouldn't do that to my best friend... I mean, seriously: Friends are forever, boys are whatever." _Ino laughed.

"Boys aren't 'whatever'!" she exclaimed. "... Well... Now that I think about it, some are." Shizuka leaned foreward, interested. Ino caught her drift.

"Listen, I'll tell you all about the Konaha boys, since we're on the subject, alright?" Shizuka nodded, vigorously.

"Okay, so there are many boys in the Leaf Village. I've already told you about the cutest one, Sasuke, no we'll go onto the other ones," Ino explained. "Okay, Sasuke's other team mate is called Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki. He's the host body of the Nine Tailed Fox that nearly destroyed our village thirteen years back. He's a real spaz and his favorite food is ramen. He's no where near as cute as Sasuke." Shizuka nodded, letting the information sink into her brain.

"Next there's another rookie on a diffrent team, Kiba Inuzuka. He's completely obsessed with his dog, Akamaru. Heck, Kiba even looks like a dog! He's got messy, short brown hair, his canines are rather long, and I wouldn't be suprised if he has fleas! Kiba's also a bit of a loud mouth, like Naruto," Ino stopped to take a breath. "Then there's Kiba's team mate, Shino Aburame. Now, this guy's kinda creepy because he has bugs in his skin!" Shizuka made a disgusted face. Ino nodded. "I know, I know, gross, huh? Anyway, other than that, he's quiet, and pretty smart. But he keeps his face hidden, which is a 'no-no' in my books."

_"Why?" _Shizuka asked.

"Because if a woman keeps her face hidden, she wouldn't be able to attract any pretty boys!" Ino said, sounding as if Shizuka asked her what colour the sky was. "But anyway, moving onto other teams: On a non-rookie team, there's Rock Lee, who has absolutely no fashion sense at all!" Shizuka cocked her head to one side, curious. Ino gave a weird laugh. "You should see this kid, Shizuka, he wears a body suit made a of green spandex, has his hair in a bowl cut, and has the thickest eyebrows ever! He's an exact replica of his sensei, aside from the eyes and the nose." Shizuka smiled widely, as if laughing.

_"Whoa, talk about weird. Why does he dress like his teacher?" _Ino read the sentance and shrugged.

"Teacher's pet," she said, simply. "Also on Lee's team is a boy named Neji. He's from the Hyuga clan. He's really arrogant and can sometimes go on and on about things that nobody cares about like destiny and fate." Shizuka nodded, hanging off Ino's every word.

_"What about the boys on our team?"_ she asked.

"Oh, Shikamaru and Chouji?" Shizuka nodded. "Well, Chouji's from the Akimichi clan, like Asuma-sensei told you today. He really like to eat, as I'm sure you noticed. His favorite chip flavour is barbeque. I really think he should go on a diet; I mean, girls like slim boys, what can I say? And Shikamaru's the laziest boy you will ever meet in your life, Shizuka. He thinks everything is a drag and just has zero motivation. But he's really smart, he's got an IQ of over two-hundred!" Shizuka's eyes grew wide. Ino nodded. "It's true. But still, girls don't like lazy boys."

_"This is all so interesting," _Shizuka wrote. _"Please tell me more, Ino?"_

As minutes streched into hours, Shizuka learnt all about the Konahagakure's residents. By the end of Ino's lesson, Shizuka knew who Hinata, Tenten, Kakashi, Gai, Iruka, and a whole lot more were. After that, Ino was about to tell Shizuka about the latest gossip, but was interuptted by her mom coming into the room, her hair slightly touseled and her eyes dull with dark circles under them.

"Ino, are you aware of the time?" she asked her daughter. gesturing to the digital clock on Ino's bedside table. "You're music could be heard in the other room; Go to sleep now! Don't you have missions tomorrow?"

"Aw Mom, come on!" Ino said, annoyed. "It's only eleven thirty!"

"Ino, I don't want to hear it. You're waking people up!"

"But-"

"Ino Yamanaka," Mrs. Yamanaka got an angry glint in her eyes as she glared at her daughter. Ino rolled her eyes, reached over, and stopped the C.D.

"Fine," she said, exasperated. Ino's mother turned off the light and shut the door. Shizuka knew their talking time was over because Ino couldn't read her writing or see her body languague in the dark. So, she snuggled under her covers, on the matress on the floor, and went to sleep.


	4. The D ranked Mission

A sudden car alarm went off in Ino's room, startling Shizuka out of a light sleep. Soba started barking at the blaring alarm clock. Ino groaned as she sat up.

"Aw, Soba, shut up!" she told the little dog, hitting the off button on her alarm clock. Shizuka yawned, sat up and rubbed her eyes. Sunlight filled the room. Shizuka glanced over at the digital clock on Ino's bedside table. It was eight a.m. Ino yawned, and swung her feet out of her bed.

"We've got one hour to get ready," she said. "We're meeting the others infront of the entrance to the hot springs." Shizuka gave her friend a confused look. Ino shrugged. "Don't ask me, that's just where Asuma-sensei said to meet."

Shrugging, Shizuka got off the matress and dove into her bag to get some clean clothes. The girls got changed, brushed their hair and teeth, washed their faces, and went downstairs for breakfast. Ino's mother and father were just finishing their breakfasts as the two teenagers walked into the kitchen.

"There you are," Inoichi said, looking up at his daughter and her companion. "What took you girls? It's nearly eight thirty."

"Nothing, noting," Ino said, sitting down at the table, Shizuka following. "I couldn't find my other sandal or a hair elastic, and Shizuka thought she hadn't packed her head band, and we didn't know what to do, but we found it under the bed for some reason."

"Well, hurry and eat up," Ino's mother said, giving the girls a piece of toast each. She glanced at Shizuka and raised her eyebrows.

"Those look like Ino's earings," she said.

"I pierced her ears for her," Ino told her mother, proudly. "She's offically a part of Team 10." Ino's mom looked unsure.

"That's sweet of you, Ino, but what if Shizuka's mother didn't want her daughter's ears pierced?" Shizuka passed Mrs. Yamanaka a note.

_"Don't worry, Mrs. Yamanaka. If anything, I'll be the one to get in trouble: I'm the one who let Ino pierce my ears. Besides, I like them_." Ino read the note too and nodded.

"Yeah, Mom," she said. "So will you please gimme a break? Shizuka likes her new earings!"

"Girls, it's eight forty-five," Inoichi said, glancing at the clock on the wall. "You should start thinking about going to meet your team."

"Fine, Dad, if you're that desperate to get us out of the house," Ino snapped. Shizuka could tell Ino wasn't a morning person. The blonde took one last bite of her toast, and got up from her chair. "C'mon, Shizuka," she said. Shizuka got up, waved goodbye to Ino's parents, giving them thankful nods, and followed Ino out the door.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ino and Shizuka walked down the street toward the hot spring district slowly, still trying to shake off their sleepiness. Ino sighed.

"Phew! Come to think of it, Mom coming into my room and telling us to go to sleep last night was kind of a blessing... If we had stayed up any later, then I would have ended up looking like a zombie this morning!" Shizuka nodded, surpassing a yawn. She knew she looked like more of a zombie than Ino today. It had taken her some time to get to sleep, for, little did Ino know it, but she snored. Loudly. Poor Shizuka ended up falling asleep with her pillow over her head, which ended up getting really stuffy.

Suddenly, the entrance to the hot spring district showed itself up ahead of the two girls. Shizuka saw Asuma, Chouji, and Shikamaru waiting near the front gates. She and Ino ran to meet them.

"Ah, there you girls are," Asuma said. He glanced at Shizuka. "Shizuka, you look rather tired." Shizuka gave her teacher a look that said, "I know!" and nodded.

"Okay, well, come on, let's get on with the mission, our employer will explain what we're supposed to do inside." The four young ninja followd their teacher through the entrance gates, passed the scaulding streams and bath houses, and entered the main lobby.

It was a quaint little lobby. There were two couches to one side of the place and a few chairs and a rug, making a nice little sitting alcove. Shizuka spotted two little kids who looked no more than six years old jumping on the couches, laughing. Asuma lead the team up to the front desk where a short, dark-haired woman stood behind it, looking rather stressed out. She looked up at them, her green eyes rather dull.

"Oh, you must be that shinobi team I requested for today," she said. "Hi, I'm Ran Miyake." She shook Asuma's hand. "Thank you for coming; This'll really help me."

"What do you need us to do?" asked Asuma.

"Well, it's going to be a very busy day today," Ran explained. "You see, in between nine thirty and five, I've got a lot of people who have reservations here along with about three large parties, and not to mention all the other people who are going to come here without an appointment..." The pressured woman stopped to take a breath. "... To top it all off, my twins had a day off school today, and my husband's away, and I couldn't leave them in the house, even with a babysitter, because the last time I did, they completely destroyed the house. Since it's such a busy day today, I was hoping you could watch my kids."

"Urgh, what a drag," Shizuka heard Shikamaru mutter under his breath. She gave him a look. Was that all he ever said?

"Here, I'll introduce them," Ran offered. She turned to the two kids jumping on the couches and called their names, "Yasu! Tomoko!" The children ceased their jumping, got off the couches, and ran over to the shinobi team and their mother.

The both of them were dark haired, green eyed, and had nearly the same facial structure: Prominent cheek bones, thin lips, and small, upturned noses. Their only visible diffrence was that Yasu was a boy, and Tomoko was a girl. Ran smiled at her two children.

"Kids, Mommy's got a lot of work to do today, so these are the people who will be looking after you, alright? This is... uhm... uh..." The woman looked at Asuma for help. He nodded and turned to the kids.

"I'm Asuma," he said, squatting down to the twins' eye level. "These are my students, Chouji, Ino, Shikamaru, and Shizuka." Tomoko giggled.

"I like the swirls on your face; They're cute." she said, pointing to Chouji. Chouji raised his eyebrows as Shizuka smiled.

"Wow, you're really pretty," Yasu said to Ino, looking up at her with awe. "I like your pony tail." Ino got a look of adoration on her face.

"Awww, isn't that cute?" she said to Shizuka. "I can tell I'm going to like this kid."

"Well, they seem to like you guys too," Ran said. "... Oh, by the way, I have something for you." She reached under her desk and handed Shizuka thin scroll. She gave the receptionist a quizical look.

"Oh, that's a list of do's and don't's for the twins," she said. "Also, there are some helpfull tips in there." Shizuka gave the scroll a scared look. The scroll was thin, but it was still big enough to be called a scroll. Were these kids _that_ difficult to babysit?

"Just one more thing," Ran added. "Take Yasu and Tomoko wherever you want, but please just stay in the hot spring district."

"We will," Asuma promised. He turned to his team. "Okay, let's go outside." As the team moved, Yasu made sure he was walking next to Ino, and Tomoko grabbed Chouji's hand, making Shikamaru laugh.

"Looks like you got yourself a girlfriend, Chouji," he teased. Chouji blushed. Ino looked some what suprised as the little girl walked in between the two boys.

"I can tell that kid's going to have some problems as far as love goes in the future," she whispered to Shizuka. Shizuka shrugged. Tomoko was only six, and she knew six year olds were very affectionate, no matter who the person was. Besides, she found it cute, the way both Tomoko and Yasu has taken a particular liking to Chouji and Ino.

Outside, near a bridge that was arched over one of the streams, Asuma stopped and turned to his team and the two children.

"Shizuka, take out that scroll, let's have a look at it," he said. Shizuka drew the scroll Ran had given her from the pouch tied around her waist, and handed it to her teacher. Asuma opened the scroll and read it, his eyes moving across the paper with great speed.

"Well, it says here that one way to keep the kids under control is to play a game with them," the adult rolled up the scroll and tossed it back to Shizuka. He turned to the twins. "Do you want to play a game?"

"Yeah, I do!" Yasu said. "Let's play hide-and-seek!"

"No, I don't want to play that, you always cheat, Yasu!" said Tomoko, accusingly. "Let's play tag instead!"

"No, it's so boring! All you do is run around and touch people!" Yasu said. "I say we play hide-and-seek!"

"Tag!"

"Hide-and-seek!"

"_Tag!_"

"_Hide-and-seek_!"

The two six year olds started to argue. Shizuka bit her lip. She wasn't sure what how she could come up with a fair compromise that would quiet them both down. It wasn't like she could tell them to stop fighting anyways. She sighed. She was already starting to get a headache.

_This may only be a D ranked mission, but whoever said D ranked missions weren't exhausting!? _she thought.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Lol, Don't talk yet, Shizuka, you've only just begun. Well, that's the end of the chapter (duh :P) More on the way.**


	5. Kagome Kagome

"Hide-and seek!"

"Tag!"

Shizuka felt like her head was going to crack open. Couldn't these kids decide already? Thankfully, Ino came to her rescue.

"Hey, Yasu, Tomoko," she said, bending down to the children's eye level. "I've got a game that I know you both will like." Tomoko and Yasu immideately ceased their squabbling and looked at Ino with great interest.

"Tell us, Ino-chan," Yasu said, softly. Ino blushed, looked at Shizuka and smiled.

"Did you hear that? He called me 'Ino-chan'," she squealed. She turned back to the twins. "Have you kids heard of this game called Kagome Kagome?"

"Uhh... Nope," Tomoko shook her head. "How do we play?"

"Well, let's get out of the way of everything, and I'll tell you." Ino led the kids and the team to a shaded, grassy path off the to side of the hot spring district's boundries. She sat the kids down and explained the game. Shizuka listened too. She hadn't heard of this game either, and wanted to find out about it.

"Okay, so Kagome Kagome is really simple," Ino said. "We choose someone to be 'it', and 'it' sits in the middle of a circle the others made with their eyes closed. The others hold hands and circle 'it' and chant a little song. After the chant ends, 'it' has to guess who's behind them. Usually, you get one chance to guess, but since you guys are younger, we'll double it. If 'it' is right, that person becomes the next person in the middle."

"How does the song go, Ino?" Tomoko asked. Ino smiled.

"I'm glad you asked," she said. Ino took a deep breath and sung a soft little tune:

"_Kagome, Kagome, the bird in the cage,  
when will you come out?  
In the evening or dawn,  
The crane and turtle slipped,  
Who stands right behind you now_?"

"That's a pretty song," Tomoko said. Abruptly afterwards, she screamed, "NOT IT!"

"NOT IT!" screamed Yasu.

"What a drag," Shikamaru muttered. "I don't want to play this stupid game." Ino shot her team mate a death glare.

"Shikamaru, don't be like that!" she said. "Come on, why don't you just cooperate for the kids?" Shikamaru rolled his eyes. He didn't like the idea of him skipping around in a circle, holding hands with his team mates and singing in a public place, so he came up with a compromise.

"Fine, I'll be 'it', okay?" Ino smiled and nodded.

"Okay, but there are some rules for everyone!" she said. "No peeking, no denying that you're behind 'it' if you are, and no jutsus to help you!" Shizuka nodded. This sounded like a fun game to play with the kids.

Shikamaru lazily sat down on the grass and closed his eyes while the other's formed a circle around him. Yasu held Ino's hand, Ino held Shizuka's, Shizuka held Tomoko's, and Tomoko held Chouji's. Asuma stood off the the side, smiling as his students played with Yasu and Tomoko.

"_Kagome, Kagome, the bird in the cage,  
when will you come out?  
In the evening or dawn,  
The crane and turtle slipped,  
Who stands right behind you now_?"

Tomoko ended up behind Shikamaru. Shikamaru took a long time to guess.

"Come on, Shikamaru, guess already!" Ino said, impatiently. Shikamaru's nodding head suddenly jerked up, as if he were woken up from dozing off.

"What? Oh- uh... I think... Um- I dunno, I think Chouji's behind me," he said.

_That didn't sound like a well thought out guess, _Shizuka thought.

"Wrong!" Tomoko laughed. "It was me! It was me! Tomoko Miyake!" The three genin and the two children started their song again. This time, Yasu ended up behind Shikamaru. There was a pause until he spoke.

"Yasu," he said. By the tone of his voice, Shizuka could tell it wasn't a guess. The lazy boy got up and turned to Shizuka, who looked at him with a confused expression on her face. She gave him a nod, asking him how he knew.

"He was singing the loudest," Shikamaru explained. "Also, I noticed he has a naturally fast pace, therefore his steps were heavier and quicker. I followed his steps, and I memorized the order in which everyone else was in starting from his left. It was the small details that brought me to my answer." Shizuka raised her eyebrows. _Wow, how observant! _While Shizuka was impressed, Ino got mad.

"Shikamaru!" she yelled at him. "You weren't supposed to cheat!" Shikamaru gave her a look.

"I didn't cheat," he said. "I used the information I gathered before the game."

"Well-well-" Ino stammered. He had gotten her there. "It's not fair to Tomoko and Yasu! They're only six!"

"So what? It's their problem, not mine," Shikamaru said. Ino growled angrily. Shizuka bit her lip. Trying to keep these two from fighting, she tapped Ino on the shoulder and motioned to the twins, reminding her they were waiting to get on with the game.

"Oh... right," Ino redeemed herself and addressed the children. "So, Yasu, ready to go next?"

"Yes!" Yasu said, jumping up and down.

"Not fair! I wanted to go next!" Tomoko snapped at her brother.

"So? I'm first Tomoko! It's the rules!" Yasu shouted.

"First is the worst, second is the best!" Tomoko argued, sticking out her tongue at him.

"No! Zero's the hero, then first is the worst!"

"Zero doesn't count!"

"Yes it does!"

"No it doesn't!"

"YES, IT DOES!"

"NO, IT DOESN'T!"

"Hey, guys, don't fight," Chouji said.

"Tomoko, it _is_ Yasu's turn," Ino said. Tomoko sighed, defeated. Ino patted her shoudler and promised her that she would have her turn eventually.

After convincing Shikamaru to participate in the game as well, the four ninja and the little girl sang the song until Shikamaru ended up behind Yasu.

"Umm... Is Ino behind me?" Yasu asked.

"Nope, it was Shikamaru," Ino said. They repeated the song until Tomoko was behind her brother.

"Is it Ino's teacher?" Yasu guessed.

"No, silly!" Tomoko yelled. "The teacher isn't even playing!"

"Oh, Tomoko's behind me!" Yasu said, opening his eyes. "It's you Tomoko! You shouldn't have talked! I knew where you were!"

"Not fair! Not fair!" Tomoko pouted.

"Tomoko, I thought you wanted to go next," Chouji said, perplexed.

"Yeah, but I wanted to become 'it' fairly! Not by Yasu cheating!" the little girl glared at her twin brother. Shizuka restrained from rolling her eyes. These kids were cute, but they wouldn't cooperate with each other even if the world was about to collapsed.

"Whatever, it's Tomoko's turn now," Ino said, slight traces of impatience lacing her voice. Tomoko sat in the middle of the circle and closed her eyes. The group of five repeated the game's routine again, Shizuka ending up behind the little girl.

"Chouji's behind me!" Tomoko decalired without hesitation.

"Nope! It's the girl that doesn't talk!" Yasu taunted.

"Her name's Shizuka," Ino told the boy.

"Yeah, yeah, Shizuka's behind you! Not Chouji!" Yasu said. Shizuka put her index finger to her lips, telling him to quiet down so that they could get on with the game. After the second time around, Shikamaru stood behind Tomoko. Still, her guess didn't change.

"Chouji!"

"No, it's Shikamaru."

Third time around.

"Chouji!"

"It's Ino, Tomoko."

Fourth time around.

"Chouji!" This time, Yasu got really frustrated.

"Tomoko, come on!" he yelled at his sister. "It hasn't been Chouji for the past four times! Guess someone else already!"

"Yasu, Mommy said we're not allowed to yell at each other!" Tomoko scolded, opening her eyes and facing her brother.

"Well, you're doing it too!" Yasu shot back.

"I am not!"

"Yes you are!"

"You're so mean!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

"Yasu, Tomoko..." Ino tried to break up their fight, but no prevail. These kids were like oil and water: They didn't mix.

"Well, you guessed Ino for the first time!" Tomoko pointed out to her brother.

"So?" Yasu asked.

"You _love_ her!" Tomoko giggled tauntingly.

"Wah-!? No I don't!" Yasu exclaimed, red in the face.

"Yeah, you do!" Tomoko shrieked with laughter.

"So?! You like Chouji, so you shouldn't-"

"You _loooove_ her! See, you're red! You wanna _kiss_ her!" Tomoko puckered up her lips. Her brother got really mad now.

"Stop it!" he yelled, pushing her on the ground. Tomoko gave her brother a shocked look and started to cry.

"Okay, this has gone far enough," Asuma said, rushing over to the twins. He helped Tomoko up and gave them a talking to.

"Both of you have to stop teasing each other. Yes, Tomoko you too, because Yasu wasn't the only guilty one here. But Yasu, don't push..." As Asuma continued to lecture the two Miyake kids, Shizuka pulled out the scroll Ran gave her, and read a few lines. The colour in her face drained, suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Ino asked, noticing Shizuka blanch. The girl showed her friend some writing below the sentance explainging that games kept the kids under control. When Ino read it her blue eyes grew wide.

"Are you _kidding_ me!?" she screamed.

"What's wrong?" Shikamaru asked, calmly.

"Read this!" Ino tossed him the scroll. Shikamaru caught it and read a small sentance below the games explaination.

_If you play a game with the kids, they'll be calm and most likely won't give you a migrane the size of the Fire Country.  
__However, do not, I repeate, DO NOT play any games that require guessing, or one that has them on seperate teams unless you want a catasrophe._

Shikamaru finished reading the sentance and glanced up. First he looked at an angry Ino then to a pale Shizuka.

"Did _either_ of you take the time to read this?" he asked.

"NO WE DIDN'T! ASUMA-SENSEI READ IT TO US! HE LEFT THAT PART OUT!" Ino screamed. Shizuka was amazed at how angry Ino could get. Shikamaru sighed. What a day this was turning out to be...

--

**More on the way. Thanks for reading!**


	6. Spilt

After the Kagome Kagome episode, Team 10 and the children were sitting at a table in the district's small cafe having lunch. Asuma didn't let Tomoko and Yasu sit together, instead he put them on seperate sides of the table. When asking them what they wanted to eat both kids said they wanted something sweet, but the Jonin refused to let them have sugar and instead promised them a good bowl of soup.

_Asuma-sensei sure knows how to handle kids, _Shizuka thought. _He'd be a good father. I wonder if he's married... Fat chance... Most shinobi I know aren't married. _Suddenly, Tomoko asked Shizuka a question, interupting her thoughts.

"Shizuka, why don't you want to talk?" she asked. "I haven't heard you speak yet... Say something cool, like, 'I beat up a boy once'!" Ino laughed.

"It's not that Shizuka doesn't want to talk," she explained. "She _can't._"

"Huh? Why can't you talk?" Tomoko asked, furrowing her brow at Shizuka.

"Oh, what was the reason now..." Ino looked at her friend for some help. Shizuka pointed to her throat. Ino nodded.

"That's right..." She turned back to Tomoko. "She was born without a larynx, which is the voice box in your throat: It allows you to talk."

"No larynx, huh?" Chouji said. "I thought you were just too shy to talk." Shizuka shook her head. She was a little bit shy, but if she had a voice she would use it like no tomorrow. She sighed. Sometimes she wished she did have a voice, but at those times she would always thank God that she wasn't born blind or deaf. Now that, she would not be able to handle.

"Oh, that's so sad," Tomoko said, her big green eyes glazed over. "Don't you ever wish you could talk?" Shizuka gave her a 'whatever' face an shrugged.

"I'm glad I have a voice," Tomoko said, putting her two cents into the conversation. "Because if I didn't, then I wouldn't be able to annoy my older brother, Haruki."

"He's my brother too, ya know, Tomoko!" said Yasu defensively. Tomoko glared at him.

"I don't want to talk to you right now, Yasu," she said, indignantly. She turned her nose up at him and turned her head away.

"Why not?" Yasu whined.

" 'Cause you hurt me, and you didn't say sorry!" the girl huffed, still not looking at her brother.

"Yes I did!" Yasu shot back.

"Yeah, but Asuma-sama made you!" Tomoko pointed out.

"Will you guys cut it out?" Shikamaru said, holding his head up with his elbows on the table. "You're driving me nuts...!"

"Sorry," Yasu apologized. He gave Tomoko a look. "But it's not me! Tomoko's the one being a grump!"

"Yasu, you are so-" Tomoko was about to bite back, but two small bowls of soup were placed infront of them, followed by some more dishes put infront of the teenagers.

"Here you go," Asuma said, pulling up a chair next to Shikamaru.

"Itadakimasu!" the kids chimed together. Ino laughed.

"Isn't that cute?" she whispered to Shizuka. Frankly, Shizuka was rather confused. These kids _were_ cute, but after the Kagome Kagome game that spun horibbly out of control, Ino couldn't possibly think these twins were as angelic as they seemed.

_Speaking of... _Shizuka took her note pad and pencil out of her waist pouch, scribbled a note, and passed it to her teacher. Asuma picked up the small book and read his student's message aloud.

" 'Did you purposely leave that bit about the games out or did you just not see it?'..." he looked at Shizuka. "What part about the games? I read the games part to you." Shizuka shook her and and tapped her temple, trying to ask him why he left the part about the guessing games out. But he didn't understand.

"You know something?" Shizuka shook her head and just pointed to her head. But Asuma still didn't get it.

"Headache?" Ino rolled her eyes and intervened.

"She's talking about the guessing games, Sensei!" she said. "Why didn't you tell us that Yasu and Tomoko were argument prone when it came to those kind of games!"

"What are you talking about, Ino?" Asuma asked.

"On the scroll," Shikamaru said, lazily. "It said that Tomoko and Yasu would get into fights if we played a guessing game with them."

"It did?" Asuma blinked. "I... Didn't read that part... I didn't know it was there... I only opened it to where it said playing game would calm them down." Shizuka furrowed her brow.

_This guy's a Jonin, did he seriously forget to read that part? _she wondered. _Or did he leave it out to test us... But test us on what? Our babysitting skills? When will shinobi ever need to babysit aside from these D ranked missions? _Shizuka's suspicions were interuptted by a sudden yell from Tomoko.

"Yasu! That hurt!" she screamed, wiping her face on her sleeve. Shizuka glanced at Yasu who was holding his soup bowl and chopsticks, glaring at his twin. She didn't see what happened, but Asuma did.

"Yasu! Don't throw mushrooms at your sister!" he scolded. Yasu looked at the adult.

"She was making faces at me!"

"Was not!" Tomoko spat.

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Both of you, that's enough," Asuma said. "Finish your soup."

Shizuka honestly couldn't believe how argumental Yasu and Tomoko Miyake were. Everything had to turn into a fight: Guessing games, weird face accusations, et cetera, et cetera... And it usually Yasu that started them, and then Tomoko wouldn't let it go. She wondered how Ran dealt with them twenty-four seven... Ignoring her lingering headache, she drew the scroll from her waist pouch and read some more of it.

_Yasu and Tomoko will usually act like angels if you seperate them, as opposed to keeping them together in one big group. One thing that might be ideal is to spilt in two groups with the one kid per two shinobi and show them around the district. If they get bored of just walking around, they'll let you know._

Shizuka passed the scroll to her teacher and pointed to the part she just read. He read it and nodded. He glanced at the two children who were nearly done their soup.

"Hey, Yasu, Tomoko," he said. "After lunch, how about we split up in two and take a walk around the place, hm?"

"What do you mean spilt up in two?" asked Yasu, swallowing some soup in his mouth.

"Two of my students will go with one of you, and the other two go with your sibling. Understand?" Tomoko nodded vigourisly.

"I call Chouji!" she declaired. If Shizuka had a voice, she would laugh. Maybe Ino did have a point. Tomoko and Yasu were adorable when they were affectionate.

"That's fine, 'cause I call Ino!" Yasu said, giving Ino a half embarrassed, half affectionate look. Asuma laughed.

"Okay then, it's settled," he said. "Shikamaru and Chouji go with Tomoko, and Ino and Shizuka go with Yasu."

"Where will you be, Sensei?" Ino asked.

"I'll be around, don't worry," Asuma assured her. The six youths finished up their lunch and left the cafe.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I love Mommy's work place," Tomoko said as she trotted alongside the two boys. "Especially the outdoors part. Mommy says when I'm old enough I can go in the bath houses for a bath. Right now the water's too hot for me."

"Huh... 'Guess you'd get to take a bath for free, since your mom works here, eh?" Shikamaru said dully, as they continued to walk.

"I dunno," Tomoko shrugged. "I guess so... I mean, would Mommy really say I have to give her money for just a bath?"

"Well, that is what she's paid to do..." Shikamaru pointed out. Tomoko shook her head.

"No, Mommy says she has to do even more important things like answer the phone and write stuff down. I'm not very good at those types of things, so I'm not going to work here when I grow up."

"Then what do you want to do when you're older, Tomoko?" Chouji asked.

"I wanna be a movie star!" Tomoko answered. "I'll be the most famous star in the Fire Country!" Tomoko didn't see Shikamaru roll his eyes once she stated her amibition, but Chouji did. He gave him a look that said, 'Hey, let the kid dream'. Suddenly, Tomoko yawned.

"I'm kinda tired. Can we stop and, like, watch the clouds or something?"

"Kid, I like the way you think," Shikamaru smiled. Chouji nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, let's stop. I'm getting kind of hugry anyways." The group of three went off to the shaded grassy boundry, sat down, and looked up at the sky, watching the clouds drifting lazily in the blue sky. Chouji had opened up another bag of barbeque flavoured chips and was chowing down while Tomoko was determined to identify every cloud's shape.

"That one looks like a bunny!" she said, pointing to the sky. "And the one beside it looks like a flower! And that other one looks like a kitty-cat!"

"You know, half the fun of watching the clouds is keeping quiet," Shikamaru hinted to the girl.

"But I like talking," Tomoko said. "Besides, don't you see any shapes in the clouds too?"

"No," Shikamaru answered. "Clouds are just clouds. End of story."

"Ah, you're no fun," Tomoko said, scowling at him. She turned to Chouji who was stuffing his face with chips. "Can I have a chip, Chouji? Please?" she asked.

"You just had lunch," Chouji told the child with a mouth full of potato chips.

"So did you," Tomoko said. "Just one chip. Pleeeeease?" She looked at Chouji with large puppy dog eyes. After a moment, Chouji handed her one chip with some reluctance. Tomoko smiled.

"Thank you," she said, popping the chip in her mouth.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Have you ever been here before?" Yasu asked the two girls as they walked. Shizuka shook her head, but Ino nodded.

"A couple of times," she answered. Yasu's face fell.

"So have I! Then why haven't I seen you around here before?" he asked. He seemed disappointed that he hadn't met Ino sooner. Ino laughed and ruffled his hair.

"You probably came here on days that I didn't," she said. "Don't fret, it's not like you're going to be put in jail for coming here on days when I'm not."

"I guess so..." Yasu shrugged. "Hey, Ino, you have a pretty singing voice. Can you teach me another song?" Ino laughed.

"I'll teach you one other song, alright? Repeat after me." Yasu nodded. Shizuka smiled. This kid really did like Ino. She listened as Ino sung a very familiar verse for the little boy.

_"Sky blue eyes, and lips well formed,  
Hands that make my own hands warm.  
'I love you' can't describe how I feel  
So, instead with a kiss, my love, I will seal..." _Yasu repeated the verse, as Shizuka did in her head. Ino sung the chorus:

_"Some day, I'll find you,  
Some day, I'll tell you it's true  
Be my tongue tied or my eyes shut,  
I'll still love you no matter what.  
But for now, I dream we'll meet soon,  
As you hold me tightly under the red moon..." _Yasu sung the chourus as Shizuka mouthed the words. Ino turned to her team mate.

"Remember when I said Under the Red Moon reminds me of Sasuke?" she asked. Suddenly, Yasu stopped humming, stopped, and turned to Ino.

"Hey, who's Sasuke?" he questioned. Ino got a dazed look on her face and blushed.

"Oh, just this really, really hot guy I know," she answered. Yasu scrunched up his face in a harsh scowl.

"Is he your _boyfriend?_" he asked. Ino giggled.

"He will be someday," she said. Yasu frowned. Shizuka tapped Ino on the shoulder and waved her hands slightly, telling her to stop talking.

"What?" she said. Shizuka nodded to Yasu who was practically glowing green with envy. Ino realized her mistake and patted him on the head.

"But, I must admit, Yasu," she said. "You're quite handsome too." Yasu's jealous look disappeared instantly. He smiled widely and blushed.

"You're real pretty also, Ino," he said, making her he was walking close enough to her. Ino giggled.

"You're going to be very popular with girls once you get older," she told him. "You must always complement us on our looks; it's flattering."

"What does 'flattering' mean?" Yasu asked.

"It means it makes us girls feel good about ourselves." Shizuka could almost see Ino's tip on getting a date sink into Yasu's head. She smiled. Ran was right. Once the kids were seperated, they were little angels.

"Hey, look! It's Tomoko and the two other boys!" Yasu pointed ahead. Shizuka saw Tomoko and Shikamaru lying on the ground and gazing up at the sky, while Chouji opened up his fifth chip bag.

"Hey, you guys," Ino greeted them, walking up to the two boys. Shikamaru opened one closed eyes and sighed at the sight of the two girls and one boy.

"What are you doing here? I thought the scroll said we should seperate Tomoko and Yasu to make them behave," he said.

"Well, geez, excuse the heck out of me," Ino frowned. "We just wanted to come and say hello."

"Can you please move your big head, Ino?" Shikamaru asked. "It's blocking my view of the clouds."

"Big head!?" Shizuka saw a throbbing vein on Ino's temple as she screamed. "What's that supposed to mean!?"

"Exactly what it seems," Shikamaru said, unintimadated by Ino's anger. "You have a big head, and it's blocking my view."

"You wanna see a big head!?" Ino yelled, "then go look in the mirror!"

"Hey, guys, don't fight," Chouji said. "It's really annoying." While Ino yelled at Chouji, Shizuka blocked out the fighting and looked around the shaded grassy area. Furrowing her brow, she looked around a second time. The third time she glanced around, she got really worried. She hurridely drew her notepad and pen from her pouch and scrawled down two words as fast as she could. Frantically, she handed it to Ino who read it out loud.

" 'Where's Yasu?'." she read. Everyone grew quiet, silently realizing Yasu was no longer with them.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Oh no! Yasu's missing! What will happen? Lol, please review, and thanks for reading!**


	7. The Eastern Side

**Again, thank you for the reviews, everyone. You rock! Here's the next chapter...**

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Yasu!"

"Yasu!"

"Yasu!" Ino sighed.

"Oh, where is he!?" she asked. "He was right beside me, now it's like he disappeared into thin air!"

"Yasu's real fast," Tomoko said. "And it isn't the first time he's run away."

"It isn't?" Ino looked at her with raised eyebrows. Tomoko nodded.

"Yeah, once we were being babysat by this girl, and she took us for a walk, and then Yasu ran off and we found him at the park near my house." Ino let out a frustrated yell.

"Then why the heck didn't his mom tell us!?" she exclaimed. Biting her lip, Shizuka took out her scroll, unrolled it all, and scanned through the instructions. Not one sentance explained Yasu's run away antics.

"Does your mom know about Yasu running off?" Chouji asked.

"No, our old babysitter never told her," Tomoko said.

"Why?"

"Because she and Yasu made a deal: She wouldn't tell Mommy that he ran away, and he won't tell Mommy that she invited her boyfriend over once when she wasn't allowed."

"Oh my gosh..." Ino went from being high-strung and worried to tired and defeated. "What are we going to do?"

"I have an idea," Shikamaru said. "We'll split up: I'll look for him North of the district; Chouji will look South; Ino will look West; and Shizuka will look East."

_"How are we going to let each other know that we've found Yasu if we have?" _Shizuka wrote. Shikamaru thought for a minute and answered.

"We'll all meet each other at the front desk. If no one's found him, we'll tell Asuma-sensei," he said.

"Wait, what about Tomoko? She can't stay here on her own," Ino said, nodding to the little girl.

"I wanna help find Yasu!" she said. "I wanna be a ninja like you guys!"

"Fine, go with Ino," Shikamaru said. Tomoko frowned.

"I don't wanna go with Ino," she whined. "I wanna go with Chouji!"

"Whatever, let's just go," Shikamaru eyed his three team mates and nodded. Returning his nod, Shizuka bounded off in an East-ward direction.

Running as fast as she could, terrifying thoughts suddenly filled the gennin's head. What if they wouldn't be able to find Yasu? What would happen to him? What would Ran think? Biting her lip in anxiety, Shizuka picked up her pace. She sped down the walkways, made her way around buildings, and weaved in and out through people, but there was absoulutely no sign of Yasu. She rounded a corner like a barrel horse, and slammed right into someone else, knocking them down. After she crash landed on the cement, Shizuka wearily lifted her head to see who she run into.

"What the heck are you doing here?" asked Shikamaru, sitting up and rubbing his head. Furrowing her brow, Shizuka got to her feet, helped up her team mate and wrote him a note.

_"What the heck am I doing here? What the heck are you doing here? I thought you were checking the North side!" _Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"You don't know your directions, do you?" he asked. "This _is_ the North side. The East side is over there," He pointed. Shizuka blushed, mouthed a, "sorry" and ran off in the proper direction.

As she ran, Shizuka began to think she wasn't supposed to be in the Eastern side of the district because she only saw men walking around, and everytime she passed a bathhouse, its signs would always read, "Men's bathhouse". She didn't know if Shikamaru sent her to search the East side because he thought it'd be funny to see her be made a fool of, or if he didn't know. She suspected he just didn't know, for he didn't seem to be the type to play pranks on people.

_Well, it's too late to switch sides with either of the two boys now, we could lose Yasu even more! _Shizuka conitnued to run down the path, trying her best not be seen very long by any of the men. Suddenly, she felt the toe of her sandal hit something, then it hit her other foot, and she went flying. Shizuka landed in the dirt. She made a face. She wasn't very well coordinated today.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" asked a voice. Shizuak looked up. A tall, serious looking man was there, looking down at Shizuka. The young girl didn't know how to tell the man she was looking for a lost little boy, so she remained immobile. After a pause, the man offered her a hand. She took it and he pulled her up.

"You new around here?" he asked. Shizuka nodded. The man gave an understanding nod.

"Well, so that you know for next time, this is the men's bath section," he said. "And women aren't allowed here." Shizuka nodded and waved as the man walked away. She glanced at what she had tripped over.

Lying in the middle of the walkway was a battered up old cap. Shizuka frowned.

_What am I going to do? How can I search this place without being recognized as a girl? _The gennin glanced at the hat again. She had an idea.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Well, at least I look somewhat like a boy, _Shizuka thought. She now had the battered up cap on her head, her long black hair stuffed under it. She was praying she wouldn't get lice. She had taken off her skirt and re-wrapped it around her legs so that it looked like she was wearing capri pants, her headband serving as a belt so that the skirt was extra secure around her waist. Shizuka didn't worry about her tank top becuase she knew some boys wore tank tops, and she also wasn't developping very fast, so her chest was hardly noticable. And just to be sure nobody recognized her feminine facial features, she had smeared dirt around her eyes, nose, and cheeks to enhance the shadow the cap's brim cast on her visage. Checking to make sure she was as boy-ish as she could be, Shizuka took off.

God only knew how long Shizuka ran around the East side of the hot spring district for. She searched every nook and cranny for Yasu, but she saw no bright green eyes or jet black hair about the place. After probably her fifth round about the men's side, Shizuka decided to stop.

_I'll just meet Ino and the others at the front desk_, she thought. She started in the direction out of the men's bathouses, but suddenly, something jumped onto her from behind.

"Rokurou!" yelled a boy's voice in Shizuka's ear. "Geez, man, you take long to find one hat!"

"Okay, let's not strangle poor Rokurou, Taichi," said a deeper voice. Shizuka pushed the boy named Taichi off her and turned around. Walking towards her was a burly, balding man with a beard and a purple shirt on. She didn't know who this was.

"Well, at least you found your hat, eh, Rokurou?" asked Taichi. Shizuka looked at him. The boy who had jumped on her was a little shorter than her. He had brown, curly hair, grey eyes, and a goofy grin. She had never seen him before.

_Why are they calling me Rokurou_? she wondered. Suddenly, she got scared_. Oh no! Maybe they think I'm someone they know! What do I do!?_

"I told you we'd wait for you near the fourth bathouse," said the man, approaching the disguised kunoichi. "We waited for over thirty minutes, why didn't you give us a ring on the cell phone and say you hadn't found it yet?" Shizuka didn't know what to do. If she revealed her true identity, she'd be be in trouble. But is she remained this Rokurou person these peopl knew, that could cause a whole lot of trouble.

"Ah, don't give him heck about it, Dad," said Taichi. "Let's just get going. I wanna take that bath we've been talking about for a while." Shizuka felt like she had fallen down the stairs. Was it their plan to _all_ go to the bathouse? Taichi, his father, _and_ Rokurou? Shizuka was about to come up with some desperate actions to show she wasn't Rokurou, but she didn't have time, for Taichi had draped an arm over her shoudlers, and was practically dragging her with him as he walked.

"Hey, Rokurou, you said you've been here before, what's it like in the bathouse?" he asked, his grey eyes sparkling with interest. Shizuka guessed this was Taichi's first time here. But it was her's too so she shrugged, shaking off his arm around her at the same time.

"Aw, c'mon, you said you'd tell me all about it," Taichi whined. Shizuka shrugged again, keeping her head down, hoping they wouldn't noticed this was actually Shizuka Kobayashi, and not their friend.

"Well, I heard from Naoki that they're real nice inside," Taichi said. "And that the tub's real big, and it's real steamy in there..." If Shizuka could, she would bolt off without looking back, but a) that would be kind of rude and b) she had to somehow let these two know she wasn't Rokurou. Many timed she had tried to take out her note book and write them a message, btu Taichi had his eye on her the whole time, and would not stop to breathe while he talked. Shizuka only half listened until he asked her a question on her attire.

"Hey, you're wearing bandages on your shins, where'd you get 'em?" he asked. "And what'er those pouches on your thigh and waist for, eh? I don't think you had them before." Shizuka felt her stomach get twisted into a knot. She casually shrugged. Taichi looked at her suspicious.

"You aren't talking very much, what's wrong with you?" he inquired. Shizuka made up an excuse quick and rubbed her throat, hopin he would get the meeage. But Taichi wasn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree.

"Huh? What's up? Feeling your pulse?" Shizuka shook her head.

"Then what are you doing?" Shizuka pointed to her throat.

"Come on, answer!" Tacihi pleaded. Shizuka was ready to smack this boy upside the head. Couldn't he tell his 'friend' had a sore thraot?

"Rokurou, why aren't you talking?"

_Because I'm not Rokurou, and I'm mute, you imbecile! _Shizuka thought, angrily. Suddenly, Taichi's father spoke.

"Here we are!" he gestured to a sign that read, "Men's Bathouse #4". Shizuka felt panic fill her system. What was she going to do!? She wasn't allowed in there! She didn't _want_ to go in there! No. No way. There was no way in the history of the Konaha and Getsu put together that she was going in that bathouse. But, Taichi thought diffrently.

"Alright! Alright! Alright! Let's go, Rokurou, let's go!" he was practically jumping on her again. Shizuka moved away from him slowly.

_I think Taichi forgot to take his pills this morning, _she thought. Suddenly, Taichi dragged her through the doors of the bathouse, and into the changing room. Shizuka could sense other men in there so she shut her eyes. She pulled away from Taichi once they were in an isolated area surrounded by lockers. She glanced nervously around at the men's changing room.

_This is bad... This is really, really bad! _she thought.

"Okay, boys, here are your towels-" Taichi's dad tossed both his son and Shizuka one fluffy white towel. "-now let's hurry and take the bath before this place closes!" Shizuka was on the brink of a panic attack as her two 'companions' removed their shirts. Suddenly, a voice called their names.

"Taichi? Arata?" Shizuka turned her head. Standing near some of the lockers was a boy with a towel wrapped around his waist with black hair and black eyes, and a soft, girl-ish face. Arata and Taichi raised their eyebrows.

"Rokurou!?" they said to the boy in unision. That was it. That was her cue to leave. Shizuka bolted from the men's dressing room, not looking back, knowing she left the other three in a deeply confused state.

She ran out of the hot spring's Eastern side at full speed, and didn't not slow her pace down until she saw the front lobby's building up ahead. Shizuka ran up to the doors, wrenched them open, and ran in.


	8. The End of a Long Day

Shizuka stumbled into the lobby, breathing heavily. She heard Ino's voice address her, shocked.

"Oh my G- What the heck happened to you, Shizuka!?" Shizuka looked up.

Ino was standing near the front desk, gaping at her friend; Chouji had stopped munching on his chips, and was staring at Shizuka; Shikamaru had his eyebrows raised as did Ran from behind the desk; Tomoko had gasped; and Asuma could only stare. Shizuka wearily approached them, and gave them a tired look.

"What happened to your face!?" Ino cried. "It's covered in dirt, are you crazy!? You can get zits like that! And where did you get that hat? And what did you do to your skirt!?"

"Okay, okay, I'm sure Shizuka has an explaination for all of this," Asuma said. Wearily, Shizuka took out her notebook and pen and scribbled down her story. She tore out the paper and handed it to her teacher. Asuma's eyes scanned the paper quickly. After a pause, he nodded.

"Well, it looks like you've had quite an adventure today, Shizuka," he said. Shizuka gave a fatigued sigh and nodded.

"What happened?" asked Ino. Ignoring her, Asuma turned to Shikamaru.

"I over heard you telling Shizuka to go look for Yasu on the Eastern side; Were you aware it was the men's section of this whole thing?"

"No," said Shikamaru plainly.

"The East side was _what!?_" Ino cried. Shikamaru looked at Shizuka.

"Is that why you're dressed like that?" he asked her. "Not be rude or anything, but you do look like a real guy dressed like that." Shizuka nodded.

"Will somebody please explain to me what's going on!" yelled Ino, losing her patience. Asuma rolled his eyes and handed Ino Shizuka's note. As Ino read the paper, Asuma began to ask Shizuka some questions.

"What happened while those people thought you were their friend?" he asked. Shizuka covered her mouth, tapped her wrist, and ran in place. Asuma nodded.

"So, you didn't tell them anything, but later you ran off?" Shizuka nodded. She pretended to take off an imaginary sweater and drew the outline of a building with her hands in the air. Asuma raised his eyebrows.

"You went into the men's changing room? Were you okay?" Shizuka nodded and covered her eyes, saying she didn't see very much in there. Asuma sighed.

"And the weird attire was to disguise yourself as a boy so that you wouldn't get caught, and you got into trouble anyway?" Shizuka nodded, and took off her hat, letting her hair fall back down into place. Asuma sighed.

"You know, there was an easier way to disguise yourself," he informed her. "You could have used a simple transformation jutsu." Shizuka slapped her forehead. A jutsu! How could she have been so stupid? If she had done a transformation jutsu, she would have avoided re-arranging her skirt, and wearing a dirty hat on her head, and she certainly would have avoided being mistaken for Rokurou. She sighed. She just didn't use her head sometimes.

"Now, don't get me wrong, your disguise was good: Good kunoichi are mistresses of disguise, but it would have been a lot simpler on your part to just use a jutsu," Asuma said, encouragingly. Shizuka sighed and nodded. She promised herseld she would remember next time.

"Hey! It's the other girl, Shizuka!" cried a familiar voice. "... Whoa, what happened to you? You're a mess!" Shizuka looked up. Standing beside Ino was Yasu Miyake, unharmed and exactly as he had been before he ran off. Shizuka's eyes widened. She looked at her team mates, hoping they would explain how they found the lost little boy.

"What's with the look?" Chouji asked her. Shizuka pointed to Yasu. "Oh, Yasu?" Chouji said. "Oh, it turns out when he ran away, he came here; There was no need to search all over the district." Shizuka's jaw hung off her skull.

_He was here the WHOLE TIME_!? she was ready to sink to the floor and just wallow in disbelief. She went through all that trouble, dressing herself up as a boy, being mistaken for a real boy, and nearly having to witness two men undressing in the changing room, to figure out that Yasu had been in the lobby the whole time! She started to sway on her feet slightly. If she had a voice, she would have screamed in frustration very, very loudly.

"I'm terribly sorry for all the trouble, kids," said Ran. "But, thankfully for you, it's five o' clock now, and that means it's pay time..." The woman drew some paper money from her pocket and handed a bill to each team member.

"There you go," she said. "Twenty ryou each. Thank you very much for watching Yasu and Tomoko today."

"What! They're leaving already!?" Tomoko exclaimed. Ran laughed.

"Well, yes, Mommy's done wokring for today, Tomoko-chan," she said. "Why don't you say goodbye?" Yasu approached Ino and did a sweeping bow.

"Goodbye, Ino," he said, very seriously. "I hope we meet again soon." Ino laughed.

"Aw, you're so cute, Yasu," she said. Yasu blushed a little, took her hand and planted a little kiss on it. Ino giggled. Shizuka smiled too. Little kids were so cute when they tried to be very polite. She glanced over at Tomoko.

"Goodbye, Chouji," said Tomoko. "I'll miss you." She gave Chouji a hug, making Shikamaru and Asuma laugh. Shizuka smiled even wider. After everyone said goodbye, the team put their money away, and left the hot spring district.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I can't believe you did that."

_I know, I know. _Shizuka nodded.

"Where you seriously mistaken for an actual boy?" Ino demanded. Another nod.

"Ew... You don't even look that boy-ish, I don't know what Shikamaru was talking about." Shizuka wrote her friend a note.

_"When I saw the real Rokurou, he looked like a girl with his soft features, and he had black hair and eyes like me." _Ino looked at Shizuka.

"Oh yeah! That's another thing I forgot to mention: You went in the _boy's changing room!?_" she exclaimed. Shizuka sighed and nodded again. Ino covered her mouth and muffled a scream.

"Oh my God, you poor, poor girl," she said. "Was it digusting in there? Did you see anything your feminine eyes shouldn't have seen?" Shizuka shook her head and covered her eyes with her hands. Ino sighed.

"Well, you were lucky this time, but next time... Hopefully, there won't be a next time!" Shizuka nodded absently mindedly as she gazed at the Leaf village around her. The sun was heading towards the west, darkening the town slightly. Ino and her were on their way back to Ino's house, for Shizuka needed to get her sleep over bag. Shizuka was still zoning out until Ino asked her a question.

"Oh, by the way, why did you smudge dirt all over your face?" she asked. Shizuka drew her notepad again.

_"It was to enhance the shadow that was already on my face. Plus, boys' faces are dirtier than girls'_." Ino nodded.

"I guess so..." Suddenly, she snapped her fingers. "Oh! I have this really good face wash that I can give to you, since I have two bottles. It cleans your face so well, and doesn't leave your skin feeling all dry." Shizuka smiled at Ino. She was one of the only people she knew in the Konaha, and as far as she was concerned, she was the nicest.

Once the two kunoichi reached Ino's house, it was already getting pretty dark. While Shizuka gathered up her things and stuffed them back in her travel bag, Ino ran off to the bathroom to get Shizuka the face cleanser. Once she returned, Shizuka was sitting quietly on the mattress on the floor, petting Soba, who was on her lap.

"Here you go," Ino tossed her team mate the bottle. Shizuka gave her a curt nod as a thank you and shoved it in her bag. She gently pushed Soba off her lap and stood up.

"I guess I see you to the door, hm?" The two girls left the room, made their way downstairs, and up to the front door. Shizuka waved a goodbye to her friend.

"See you later," said Ino, opening the door. "We should do this again sometime."

"Is your friend leaving, Ino?" asked a voice. Shizuka turned around. Inoichi and his wife were standing next to their daughter. Before she forgot, Shizuka quickly pushed her right fist against her left palm and bowed slightly. Ino furrowed her brow.

"What was that?" she asked.

"I think she's saying, 'Thank you', Ino," suggested Inoichi. Shizuka nodded. He was right on the money. Ino and her family had been so nice to her, how could she leave without saying 'thank you'? After a wave and a chorus of goodbyes from the family, Shizuka left the house, smiling as she walked home.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Someday, I'll find you  
Someday, I'll tell you it's true  
Be my tongue tied, or my eyes shut,  
I'll still love you no matter what.  
But for now, I dream we'll meet soon,  
As you hold me tightly under the red moon..._

That was the first thing Shizuka heard as she woke up. The first thing she felt was a hand on her shoulder shaking her. The first thing she saw was her mother leaning over her and talking. Shizuka reached up and pulled her ear phones out of her ears.

"Rise and shine, Shizuka-chan," said Midori. Shizuka blinked and looked at her iPod in her hand. She remembered she was listening to it last night as she fell asleep, did she listen to it all night? The single line on her battery indicator told her she did.

"It's eight, if you're going to meet your team at nine, I suggest you..." Midori's voice trailed off. She pushed some of Shizuka's hair back from the side of her head, revealing her ears, and made a face. "Are those... earrings?" she asked. Shizuka bit her lip. She had forgotten about getting her ears pierced yesterday.

"When did you get your earrings put in?" asked Midori. Shizuka fumbled for her pen and pad that lay on her bedside table and quickly scribbled an explaination down.

_"I know we said we'd talk about it, but when I went over to Ino's yesterday, she told me every member of Team 10 wears these!" _Midori read the note and gave her daughter a look.

"You mean to tell me a thirteen year old girl pierced your ears _herself?_" she asked.

_"I know it sounds bad, but Ino knew what she was doing! It's not a big deal, it's not like a decided to start smoking or anything!" _Shizuka argued. Midori huffed.

"It isn't, but I wish you would tell me when you're going to do stuff like this," she said.

_"What was I supposed to do? Call you and ask if I could get my ears pierced like a little kid?" _Shizuka wrote, frowning. Midori pushed a strand of greying black hair out of her face.

"Whatever, Shizuka, I just came to tell you you might want to get moving if you're going to meet your team soon." Shizuka nodded, got out of bed, and started to get ready.


	9. Farm Hands

Shizuka sauntered down the street, wondering what kind of mission she and her team would do today. She hoped Ran didn't need them to babysit again, because by the end of yesterday, she had had enough of those kids. They were sweet and cute and times, but throughout the day, they only made her head ache worse and worse.

Now that she had recovered from that nightmare, she was on her way to meet her team near a dango shop. The only problem was... She couldn't remember the name fo the shop or where it was.

_C'mon, Shizuka, _she told herself. _Use your head! Asuma-sensei told you to meet the team at a dango shop... He mentioned it was on Main Street... Or, maybe it was on Tea Street? I mean, it would be logical to drink tea with dango, right?... Oh, wait... Do you drink tea with dango? _Shizuka was so confused. She was begining to get worried, but she refused to panic.

_Take a deep breath, _Shizuka thought. _And just think: Where did Asuma-sensei say the dango shop was? _Shizuka's memory was like a frozen computer; no matter how many times your try to unfreeze it, it just stays at the same blank page.

Shizuka picked up her pace letting her worry finally overflow. She was running left and right, rounding corners, passing signs and streets she didn't recognize. She began to panic.

_Oh my God, where am I?! _she thought. _What street is this? Where's the dango shop? Where's my team!? Where's Ino? Where's Chouji? Where's Shikamaru? Where's my teacher!!!??? _Shizuka ran faster and faster, letting the adreneline fuel her. She kept her eyes on the ground, as if the soil would help her orient herself. Suddenly, she nearly collided into a group of people. She stumbled past them, trying to regain her footing but it was no use. She lost her balance and fell face first into the dirt.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" asked a calm male voice. Shizuka rolled over, sat herself up, and looked up at the people she had nearly crashed into.

It was a group of four. Two boys, one girl, and one man. The man who had spoken was tall, had spikey grey hair, and three quarters of his face covered by a mask and his bandana. One boy was a blonde boy with sapphire eyes, and... whiskers on his cheeks? The girl was green-eyed and pink-haired, and Shizuka couldn't help but to notice her exceptionally large forehead. The other boy was a handsome boy with black hair, eyes, and a seldomn look on his face.

_Is... Is that Sasuke Uchiha? The on Ino's crushing on? _she wondered. _And the girl... _She looked at the kunoichi of the group. _Is she Sakura Haruno?_

"Hey, are you okay?" asked the blonde boy.

_And he must be Naruto... The kid with the fox thing inside him! _Shizuka nodded and got up off the ground and brushed herself off.

"I've never seen you around here before," said Naruto. "Are you a new here?" Shizuka nodded. Naruto smiled.

"Well, hi there!" he greeted her loudly. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the future Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, the greatest ninja you'll ever meet! What's your name?" Shizuka raised her eyebrows. Ino wasn't kidding about this boy being loud. She mouthed her name, hoping he'd be able to read her lips, but he wasn't.

"Hey, c'mon, what's your name?" he asked again. Shizuka mouthed her name again with exagerated lip movements this time. Naruto got frustrated.

"Will you just tell me your name already!?" he exclaimed.

"I don't think she _can_, Naruto," said the sensei of the group. Shizuka remembered Ino telling her about this teacher, but she didn't remember his name. He approached her.

"Hey, sorry for the trouble, but could you say your name one more time?" he asked. Shizuka mouthed her name one last time. This guy was Jonin, he would be able to understand her.

"Shizuka, hm?" he said. "What's your last name?"

_Kobayash, _Shizuka told him.

"Are you new here?" the sensei pressed on. Shizuka nodded. "Where are you from?" Shizuka pointed to the sky and drew a cresent moon in the dirt with her foot.

"Ah, the Getsugakure?" Nod.

"Why don't you just tell us!?" Naruto piped up. "What's with all these weird hand signals and stuff?!" Shizuka covered her mouth. The teacher interpretted.

"She _can't _talk," he explained. He turned back to Shizuka. "You're a mute, right?" Shizuka nodded. She held up her finger, asking the man to spare her a moment, pulled her pad and pen from her waist pouch and quickly scrawled down a request.

_"My clan and I recently came to the Konaha to avoid the war going on in the Getsu (since the Kobayashis weren't called to battle). Don't worry, I'm not an illegal alien. But I was put in a team and I'm meeting them at a dango shop. Could you help me find my way there?... If you're not busy, that is."_

"We're done our mission today, I think we can do that," said the sensei. "Follow us."

"What are we doing?" asked Naruto.

"Bringing Shizuka to the dango shop," answered the teacher, walking off. He stopped and turned to the lost girl. "By the way, this is my team: Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. I'm Kakashi." Shizuka nodded. Her suspicions were correct. This was the team with Ino's crush on it. She could see why Ino liked Sasuke so much. He was drop-dead-gorgeous. Although, he seemed to be on the quiet side, so Shizuka couldn't really tell much about his personality.

"Hey, what team were you put into?" asked Sakura. Shizuka became warry now. She hadn't forgotten Ino's story about how this girl ended their friendship over a boy, so she decided not to get all buddy-buddy with her. Still, she answered her question by holding up all ten fingers. Sakura got a strange look on her face.

"Team 10!?" she cried. Shizuka furrowed her brow and nodded. Sakure frowned and kicked a rock aside.

"That means your in a team with Ino-pig," she mumbled. Shizuak gave her a look. That wasn't very nice of her. Sakura turned to her.

"Listen to me, Shizuka," she said, warningly. "Ino may seem all nicey-nice with you, but don't get her evil spell cats over you; She's a real-"

"Shizuaka! There you are! Where the heck were you?" asked a voice. Shizuka looked up.

She had arrived at the dango shop... That didn't take very long. Ino had gotten up off the bench that stood infront of the building and made her way over to them, the rest of the team following. Shizuka sighed, smiled, and waved. Ino glanced at Sakura, glared at her, and opened her mouth to say something, but then her gaze fell on Sasuke.

"Sasuke!" she cried. She ran up to the boy and threw her arms around him. Sasuke looked very irritated as Ino hung onto him him.

"What a pleasent suprise!" Ino squealed. "I haven't seen you in such a long time, how are you?"

"Hey!" yelled Sakura. "Get your hands off Sasuke, Ino-pig!" Ino let go of Sasuke and turned to her enemy.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Billboard Brow," she said, snidely. "Haven't seen you in a while either. I see your forehead is as big as usual?"

"And I see you're just as two-faced as usual!" Sakura snapped. She glanced at Shizuka. "And infront of the new girl too! Why would you go on and act so nice to her and mean to me? Now she knows the real you: Just a two-faced pig!" Ino laughed.

"It's sad, really... I thought you actually had a brain behind that huge brow of your's," she shot back. "Because, Shizuka and I are actually very good friends." She turned to Shizuka. "Isn't that right?" Shizuka didn't like being put on the spot in these kind of fights. She had to admit, Sakura was being very mean and nasty, but Ino was being just as bad as her. However, Shizuka reminded herself that Ino was the person who had taken her under her wing, so she pushed her hair back and showed Sakura her ears, the silver hoops dangling from her lobes.

"I rest my case," Ino said in a tone that stated the battle was won. Sakura looked at Shizuka as if she had just betrayed her. She was about to bite Ino back, but Asuma swooped in and stopped the fight.

"Alright, that's enough, girls," he said. He turned to Sakura's sensei. "Thanks for bringing her, Kakashi."

"Don't mention it," said Kakashi, shrugging. "We'll be seeing you." He, Naruto, and Sakura turned to leave, but Ino still had Sasuke in her clutches.

"Goodbye, Sasuke," she said, hugging him again. "Hopefully I'll see you again some time soon."

"Just get off me," Sasuke grumbled. He shook Ino off, turned on his heel and walked off without saying goodbye. Shizuka narrowed her eyes at Sasuke.

_How rude... _she thought. _Sure, Ino came on a little strong, but that still doesn't give him a reason to be impolite._

"What happened, Shizuka?" Asuma asked the girl. Shizuka's sudden facial expression must have been funny because everyone started laughing.

"Got lost, huh?" asked her teacher. Heaving a sigh, Shizuka nodded.

"Well, at least your here now and I can tell everyone about the mission," Asuma said. "Today we'll be helping a close friend of mine out on his farm-"

"Farm!?" Ino cried. "You mean a smelling, dirty, animal-keeping farm!?"

"...Yes... Why, Ino?" Ino let out a yell.

"Absolutely perfect!" she stomped her left foot hard on the ground. "I've been on a farm before and I did NOT like the experience! I got filthy! By the end of the day my hands were covered in dirt, my nails had mud in them, along with my hair, and it got all over my clothes! And when I fell into the pig pen, I didn't just get covered in mud!" Ino's rants were interupted by Chouji and Shikamaru laughing loudly.

"Both of you, enough," Asuma said to the laughing boys. He turned back to Ino. "Well, I'm sorry you don't like farms, Ino, but that's the mission, and you're just going to have to deal with it."

"But-!"

"Okay, let's get going," Asuma started off, ignoring a fuming Ino. Shizuka followed her teacher, her friends trailing behind her. She could still hear Ino grumbling.

"Lousy farms... Why even keep a bunch of gross animals all banded together?... That'll just be more manure to clean up!..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Asuma!"

"Hey, Shinobu! How are you?"

The two men shook hands firmly. Shizuka observed Asuma's friends silently. The man looked a little older than her sensei. He had red-ish brown hair, misty hazel eyes, and a prominent nose. He wore a simple grey t-shirt, dirty jeans, and heavy duty work boots. He turned to the four young ninja.

"Ah, is this your team?" he asked.

"Yeah, let me introduce you," Asuma offered. "Starting from the left to the right: Chouji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Shizuka Kobayshi."

"You got four?" Shinobu asked. "I thought ninja were put in teams of three."

"They are, but Shizuka's new to the Konaha, so the Fifth pulled a few strings and she put her in our team until further notice."

"I see," Shinobu nodded. "So, you sure have your work cut out for you today, kids. You've got to fix the broken fence near the cattle paddock, then..." Shinobu's words were drowned out by the thundering sounds of hooves drawing closer and closer to them. Suddenly, a in a blur of leather, a tail and a mane, a horse sped right by Shizuka. It came so close her her, she could have sworn if she had been any further, her nose would have been caught in the horse's saddle's stirrup.

"Hey, Dad, look how fast Ai can go! It's like riding the wind!" Perched on top of the now halted dapple grey horse was a girl who looked no more then ten years old. She had red hair and the same hazel eyes as Shinobu. She wore a light blue tank top and beige riding pants with leather boots. Shinobu glared at his daughter.

"Kyo, where's your helmet!?" he asked.

"Champs like me don't need helmets," she proclaimed. "Besides, it's not like Ai would let me fall off -- We're best friends!"

"I don't care if your the champion of the five great nations, Kyo, you are obliged to wear a helmet," Shinobu snapped. "By the way, galloping up to us at full speed was also very dangerous, you nearly ran over Shizuka!" The man sighed and turned to the five shinobi. "This is my daughter, Kyo."

"Hi," Kyo waved, holding her horse's reins in her other hand.

"Hey, I thought you said you were going to ride Natto today," Shinobu said to his daughter. Kyo shrugged.

"I wanted to train Ai," she said. "Besides, I tried to put Natto's halter on today, and she nearly kicked me!"

"Natto? Who's Natto?" Chouji asked the girl.

"That moody mare over in that paddock," answered Kyo, pointing. Shizuka followed the girl's finger. In a paddock a little away from the barn was a small corral. In it was a pinto mare. Her ears were pinned back as she galloped about the paddock, bucking, kicking, and letting out a shrill neigh every once in a while. That was one horse Shizuka wanted to have nothing to do with.

"Ah, yes, of course, how could I have forgotten?" Shinobu sighed and turned to the older adolensents. "That's Natto. She may look like Hell on Hooves, but most of the time, she's a really sweet horse... But right now she's in heat, she's crabby because of the weather, she has a lot of energy, and mares are naturally moody and prissy, so that's why she's acting like that today." Shizuka flinched as Natto kicked the fence in one of her bucks.

"So, as I was saying," Shinobu continued. "You've got your work cut out for you on the farm. You need to fix the broken fence near the cattle paddock, and put a fresh coat of paint on it; spread ferilizer throughout the wheat field, muck out the horse and sheep stalls..."

"EW!" Ino screamed. Shizuka glanced at her friend. Was she really that uptight about getting a little dirty?

"Oh, and... uh..." Shinobu gave the corral near the barn a look. "If you could some how get Natto into her stall, I'd pay you extra. But if you can't, don't worry." Shizuka shot the paddock a wary look. Natto had charged at the gate, and turned at the last minute, bucking and kicking. There was no way she was mingling with that crazy horse.

"C'mon, Dad! Let's go, or we'll be late!" Kyo said, impatiently.

"Alright, Alright, go put Ai away and then we'll leave," Shinobu said. He turned to the five shinobi as Kyo and Ai trotted off. "Well, we're leaving in ten minutes. Thank you very much, guys, this'll help me a lot."

"Don't mention it, Shinobu," Asuma said, aimiably, giving his friend a nod.

"Oh, by the way," Shinobu said to the genin. "You might wanna put on these while your working..." He held up a pair of muddy, oversized rubber boots.

"There is no way...!" Ino began but Asuma told her to shush.


	10. Oops

Unfortunately for Team 10, it was a rather hot and humid day. At least there were things around to provide shade. Like the barn. That's what Shizuka thought, anyways. How wrong she was.

The barn in which Shinobu kept his cows, horses, and sheep was even hotter and muggier, the light breeze didn't seem to find its way through the door, and it was really smelly.

"Why did we decide to muck out the stalls first!?" Ino questioned, hiking up one oversized rubber boot.

"Because then we can get it out of the way," Asuma answered, grabbing a pitchfork that was leaning on the wall.

"I don't wanna clean out stalls! I'll get filthy!" Ino cried.

"Suck it up, Princess," Shikamaru said, boredly. "Neither do I, but getting dirty is just part of the job."

"Oh, you would know, wouldn't you, Shikamaru!?" Ino yelled at him.

"Both of you stop fighting and do your work. The wheelbarrow's there," Asuma pointed to a grey wheelbarrow next to the stall with a fluffy white ewe in it. Wiping some light perspiration from her forehead, Shizuka grabbed a pitchfork and started on a empty stall.

Shizuka's cousins, Setsuko and Osamu, worked on a family friend's farm back in the Getsugakure. Shizuka came to work with them once, and she had to clean out a stall. She got through half of it before Osamu took over for her, so she had a bit of knowelege on cleaning stalls. Still, it was back breaking work, and the hot weather didn't help.

"Shinobu told me there's a manure pile in one of the fields.When you're wheelbarrow is full go dump it there," Asuma instructed, looking over the stall wall at his students.

"Eeeewwww, there's flies the size of houses in here...!" Shizuka heard Ino in the stall next to her. She decided to ignore her and continue with her work. If she was going to do the job right she had to turn off the girly girl mode and engage in the tough farm hand mode.

While Shizuka filled up her wheelbarrow, she glanced around at her team mates. Asuma was working efficently, Chouji was going a little slow, but was trying his best, Ino was taking her sweet time, and Shikamaru was done nearly half his stall.

Shizuka watched him for a little bit. He looked as if he had done it before. Shikamaru finally sensed her eyes on him and turned to her.

"What?" Shizuka pointed to the stall.

"What is it?" Shizuka banged her pitch fork on her stall's floor and pointed to the boy.

"I don't get it." Shizuka banged her pitchfork on the stall floor, pointed to Shikamaru and tapped her wrist.

"You think I'm going to slow?" Shizuka shook her head and pretended to muck out the stall very fast.

"Oh, I'm going fast?" Shizuka nodded. She gave him a confused look. Shikamaru shrugged.

"It's a drag, really, but my parents make me clean the stalls at my place sometimes. We raise deer, you see, so I get my pratice." Shizuka nodded.

_Ah, so is he a farm boy_? she wondered_. He seems a little unmotivated to be a farm boy, but still... _

For a long time, Shizuka and her team made trips back and forth from the manure pile, cleaning out every single horse, cow, and sheep stall, and even putting down fresh bedding for the livestock. Once they were done, the sun was high in the sky, and the team was exhausted.

"Well, at least we got that out of the way. Good job, team," Asuma said. He looked up at the sky. "Go wash your hands in the tack room's bathroom and have a quick break. We still need to fix the cattle field's fence, paint it, then spread fertilizer throughout the wheat field."

The team made their way over to the tack room and waited as each of them washed the mud and dirt off their hands.

"Argh, look at this! A stain! Right in the middle of the fabric!" Ino exclaimed through gritted teeth, looking down at her purple top. Shizuka looked down at her attire too.

The hem of her skirt was slightly soiled, and the bandages around her shins were sloppily painted with dirt and mud, but aside from that she was fine, although she was praying that nothing would leave a stain.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The kids and Asuma sat atop of the huge moutain of hay bales in the riding arena, eating their lunch in silence. The arena was rather hot inside, but the huge door was opened, letting a light, cool breeze that reached the five ninja.

"Hey, how much are we going to get paid for all this back breaking work we're doing!?" asked Ino, indignantly. Asuma shrugged.

"Shinobu will decide once he comes back," he answered, plainly. Shizuka sat in silence, munching on a rice ball. She too was wondering that question. She had been saving up for this really nice, but expensive top she saw her second day here, and she was about twenty ryou away from the amount need, excluding the tax. And she wanted that shirt so badly, but wasn't even sure if it was still there.

_Well, I'll make sure I do the jobs as best as I can... Maybe Shinobu will like our hard work and give us a little extra money, _she decided. The team quickly finished up their lunch and got right back to working.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rest of the jobs were quite tiring. While trying to fix the cattle field's fence, Shizuka got at least three splinters in her hand, and accidently dropped a plank of wood on poor Asuma's foot. The others weren't having much luck getting the job done quickly and easily either: Ino was having a hard time holding up the wood while Asuma tried to nail it to the post, Chouji nearly got a hammer slammed on his thumb, and Shikamaru wasn't really doing much, which made the job even more difficult.

And when they had to repaint the fence, the team couldn't find the bucket of paint, until they came across a tin pail of white paint-like substance. Unfortunately for the five shinobi, they discovered it was actually varnish and not white paint. Once they found the paint in an empty stall, they set to work right away. But they only did half the fence until Ino tripped over the bucket and spilled it's contents eveywhere (inculding on herself). Asuma sighed.

"Okay, forget the fence, let's just fertilize the wheat field and I can explain what happened to Shinobu when he gets back," he decided. Shizuka stared at the fence before her. The new plank of wood they nailed to the fence post was kind of crooked and lopsided. And the white paint was carelessly painted onto the wood, some places whiter than others. It looked like a blind person had done a half-assed job of it.

_Great... _Shizuka thought. _What now? Shinobu won't like this... That means he won't pay us as much... Which means I might as well kiss that lovely top I saw goodbye... _Shizuka followed her team mates back into the barn, discouraged. She supposed there were better things that costs less in the Konaha than that shirt.

"Listen, team," Asuma said, stopping in the middle of the barn's alley. "When fertilizing a large field, you have to use a machine. Shinobu told me you were all to young to operate a tractor, so I'll do this task. In the mean time, stay here and make your selves useful somehow." Ino leaned against a stall door and heaved a sigh.

"Fine..." she mumbled.

"And that doesn't mean sit on your butts and do nothing," Asuma added warningly. With that, he disappeared. Once he was gone Shizuka joined Ino leaning on the wall. The two boys were sitting on the side of the alley. They were all silent for a minute until Ino spoke.

"Well... what now?" Shizuka looked around. She saw four brooms leaning against the wall a little away from her. She pushed herself up off the stall door and grabbed a broom and started sweeping.

The others eventually caught on and joined her with cleaning the alley way. None of them talked, for fatigue had tied their tongues up, so the only sounds that were heard was the occasional neigh, moo, or bleat of an animal, and the distant roar of a tractor.

Shizuka continued to sweep the alley, bored, tired, and in despair over the loss of her dream shirt.

_I guess all hope's lost for my would-be shirt_... she thought. Suddenly, a shrill neigh interuptted Shizuka's sorrowful thoughts. Concerned she ran to the window on the far side of the alley and looked out the window.

It was only Natto throwing a fit again. She was rearing up and galloping about. Shizuka watched the angry mare.

_Wow, that is one unhappy horse... _she thought. _Someone should go bring her in or something... _Then, she remebered what Shinobu had said: _"If you can somehow get Natto in her stall, I'll pay you extra..." _Shizuka thought about the extra ryou she'd get... It would probably be more than enough to buy that gorgeous shirt. She continued to stare at Natto. The horse was still being restless, but she looked like she had calmed down a little bit. Shizuka also noted she had her halter on. Smiling slyly, Shizuka walked into the tack room without any of her team mates noticing, retrieved a lead rope, and set off towards Natto's paddock.

The mare was throwing another hissy fit once Shizuka reached the gate. Cautiously, she opened the gate and shut it so Natto wouldn't be able to run out.

_Alright, Horsie, calm down, _Shizuka thought as she made her way to the crazy horse. She made a small clicking sound with her tongue to tell Natto she was present. Natto's ear twitched and she turned her head to see Shizuka advancing towards her. Shizuka held out her palm, welcoming the horse over. Natto seemed calm for a minute.. With her ears foreward, she stepped towards Shizuka sniffing her hand.

_That's a good girl, _Shizuka thought, smiling. Slowly, she opened the clip of the lead rope, reached up and clipped it to the horse's halter. Suddenly, chaos broke out.

Natto squealed and bit Shizuka's hand, making her gasp in pain. The mare threw back her head wrenching the lead from the kunoichi's hand. She reared up and galloped past Shizuka, bucking, kicking, and grunting. Shizuka was in a panic. Her instincts told her to get out of the paddock, so she sped over to the gate, opened it, and ran out.

If Shizuka had been paying attention, she would have remembered to close the gate, but she wasn't, so she didn't, and Natto wasted no time escaping from her prison.

_No, no, no, NO! _Shizuka thought, as the horse made a beeline for the barn. A shot of adreniline ran through her body, and Shizuka took off after Natto, who had entered the barn now.

She couldn't yell and warn Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji about the charging horse, so Shizuka tried her best to catch up to Natto, but no prevail. She chased after the mare, down the alleyway, ignoring her team mates yell and dodge for cover.

_Somebody HELP ME!!! _Shizuka mentally pleaded as she continued to run after Natto. Suddenly, the mare let out a loud whinnie, as someone caught her flailing lead rope, and directed her into an empty stall. The person shut the door as fast as he could with a loud clang to follow it.

It was Asuma.

"What the heck is going on here!?" he demanded. Shizuka saw the other slowly walk towards their teacher and blushed furiously. Ino was the first to speak.

"How should I know!?" she yelled. "Shikamaru, Chouji and I were sweeping the alley, minding our own bussiness, when that pyscho horse ran through the barn with Shizuka chasing after it!" Asuma turned to Shizuka.

"Shizuka, what happened?" he asked. Feeling a wave of humiliation and guilt drown her, Shizuka took out her note pad, wrote down her story, tore out the page, and handed it to her sensei. After Asuma had read it, he got an angry look on his face and crumpled up the paper.

"Do you ever use your head!?" he asked her. "Natto is a very touchy horse, if things hadn't played out the way they did you could have been killed!" Feeling embarrassed, Shizuka held up the hand that Natto had bitten, the mare's teeth marks making a purple and blue imprint on her palm.

"Are you kidding me, Shizuka!?" Asuma yelled. Shizuka winced. She didn't like getting yelled at. "Why on Earth would you go ahead and risk getting hurt by trying to get Natto in her stall!?"

_"I just wanted some extra money for something I was saving up for..." _Shizuak wrote, guiltily. _"I thought I would be able to get Natto in here okay, and Shinobu would pay us extra. Stupid and selfish, I know... I'm sorry, Asuma-sensei." _Asuma sighed.

"Haven't you ever done any mission back in the Getsu that weren't so straight foreward? When you had to actually use your head?" he asked. In fact, Shizuka had, but both her other team mates were good with stratetgies and they usually took over the mission, leaving Shizuka to watch from the sidelines. Once they even tried letting her do a mission that required careful thinking, and it failed because of her. Knowing her teacher should probably know this, Shizuka wrote it down on her paper and handed it to him. After reading it, Asuma sighed.

"For real...?" he asked. Ashamed and embarrassed, Shizuka nodded. Asuma was silent for a minute, as if thinking. Shizuka wondered if she'd get yelled at again or maybe he'd just drop it. She didn't know. She only crossed her fingers and hoped for the best.

"Well, I can see you haven't really had any proper training as far as using your head and strategy goes," Asuma said, finally. He turned to Shikamaru and beconed him over. Shikamaru, who was leaning on a stall door, lazily straightened up and ambled over to his teacher. Asuma whispered something to him. Once he was done, Shikamaru got an exasperated look on his face.

"Do I _have_ to?" he asked. Asuma whispered something else to him, but his hushed voice sounded a little more assertive this time. Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"Fine..." he muttered.

"Good," Asuma smiled. He turned back to Shizuka. "Shizuka, since you need some practise in thinking things through, I've assigned Shikamaru to help you with just that." Shizuka made a face. Shikamaru? But he was the laziest kid she'd ever met! What was he going to do? Teach her how to nap properly?

"What's with that face?" Asuma asked. He lowered his voice so that the others couldn't hear him. "I know Shikamaru can be a real sloth, but he's really smart. He's got an IQ that surpasses 200." Shizuka remembered Ino saying something like that to her. Shizuka forced a smile and nodded, saying she wouldn't make a fuss about Shikamaru. Asuma smiled.

"Believe me, that kid's got some real brains behind his lazy nature," he assured her. He addressed the whole team now. "Okay, well, aside from the incedent with Natto, you guys did good work today, and tomorrow's your day off."

"Thank God!" Ino cried. The team made their way out of the barn, and waited for Shinobu to come back. During that time, Shizuka ran up to Shikamaru and asked him when a good time for practising strategies would be. He shrugged.

"I dunno... I guess you can come over at around noon-ish tomorrow," he said. Shizuka nodded, and smiled.

_"Thanks for this, by the way," _she wrote. Shikamaru gave her another shrug.

"Asuma would have been on my back about it if I refused, so I had too," he said. Shizuka shrugged and went off to go talk with Ino.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Hi, everybody! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I got buried under a few things. Lol. Anyway, I know some of you are getting a little impatient for the romance in this story, but don't worry! I promised this would be a love story, and it will be! I just didn't want to rush anything. **


	11. Shogi Training

**Hey, everyone! Thanks for all the reviews again, especially Reviews for the Poor and Leilani22. Here's the next chapter:**

"You're filthy!" Midori cried as her daughter walked into the house. Shizuka sighed and nodded. She was careful to avoid brushing by the furniture should she get it dirty. "What happened on this mission?" Shizuka pointed to the painting of a farmhouse on the wall. Midori nodded.

"You were at a farm, eh?"

Nod. Shizuka decided not to tell her mom about her run in with Natto, but it was too late because Midori saw the bruise on her hand.

"What happened to your hand?" Shizuka pretended to bite her palm and put her two index fingers up on her head to make them look like ears. Midori sighed.

"You got bitten by an animal?"

Nod.

"Was it rabid?" Shizuka shook her head.

"Be careful because next time it might have rabies... So, what are you planning to do tomorrow since your team doesn't have any missions?"

_"I'm going over to a friend's house," _Shizuka wrote.

"Which friend?" asked Midori.

_"Shikamaru."_

"Who's Shikamaru?"

_"He's a boy on my team." _Midori gave her daughter a suspicious, yet amused look. Shizuka gave her a confused one.

"I didn't know you associated with boys all of a sudden, Shizuka-chan," she said. Shizuka rolled her eyes and scribbled down the Natto story for her mother.

"You should have been more careful," Midori said once she read the part where Shizuka let the horse loose. Shizuka stuck out her lower lip. She had heard enough from her sensei, she didn't need anymore grief from her mom. Once she was done reading, Midori shrugged.

"You brought this on yourself, Shizuka," she said. "Next time you shouldn't try and deal with crazy horses. Now go take a bath before you stink up the house." Rolling her eyes once more, Shizuka ran up stairs, got her bathrobe on, and drew herself a bath.

--

The next morning Shizuka slept in late. She was in no rush in the morning. Her arms ached from the hard work yesterday, and the bruise on her hand had turned a weird purple-brownish colour. When she went downstairs the clock read eleven a.m.

"When are you going over to this boy's house?" asked Midori, looking up from her breakfast. Shizuka showed her mother ten fingers, and then just two.

"Noon? Well, you better get ready." Shizuka ate a quick breakfast and went back upstairs to brush her hair, teeth, and get dressed. All that time she was wondering how Shikamaru was going to help her use her brain.

So far, her thoughts on Shikamaru weren't very positive. Shizuka had inferred that Shikamaru Nara was a lazy pessimist that wasn't much of a help on mission. But then again, he was pretty smart, and seemed nice enough, so maybe he wasn't all that bad. Shizuka just hoped they wouldn't sit around and do nothing while she was there...

Shizuka waited outside the Naras front door. This was the second time she rang the door bell and nobody had decided to come answer it. She was about to ring the bell again when she heard a sharp woman's voice yell.

"Shikamaru will you please answer the door?" she called.

"In a minute..." said Shikamaru's voice. Shizuka rolled her eyes.

_Come on!_

"Shikamaru, it rang twice; _get-the-door_!" shouted the female voice. After that, the door opened. Shizuka raised her hand in greeting.

"Hi," Shikamaru said. "Sorry about that. Come on, let's go get this over with." He made way for Shizuka to pass. She looked around Shikamaru's house.

The wooden floor boards creaked a little as she walked. The walls were pretty plain with a little paint covering them. On one wall was a plaque with deer's antlers on it. The place was kind of bare, but it had a somewhat cozy feel to it.

"Shikamaru, close the door if no one's coming in or out!" barked the same voice that told him to answer the door. Shizuka turned her head.

Approaching the two teens was a woman who was tall, had her long brown hair tied back with a few bangs loose, and dark eyes. She wore a white apron over a pink shirt and a long, brown skirt with boots. Shizuka assumed his was her team mate's mother.

"Who's this?" she asked, sharply. Shizuka was a little put off. She would have appricated it if Shikamaru's mom had asked _her_ the question instead of her son.

"This is Shizuka Kobayashi," Shikamaru said. "She's staying with our team until she gets put into one of her own, being from the Getsugakure and all." Yoshino blew a stray bang from her forhead.

"Well, it's about time you started hanging around with girls," she commented. "Seriously, you're thirteen now!" Shizuka's face turned red.

"Mom-"

"Well, go off now and do whatever it is teenagers do!" With that, Yoshino disappeared, leaving the two team mates in an akward silence. Shikamaru sighed.

"Don't mind my mom," he said. "She's always like that."

_"I don't mean to be rude or anything, but HOW CAN YOU STAND IT?" _Shizuka asked him. Shikamaru sighed.

"That's the thing- I can't," he said. Shizuka followed Shikamaru down the hall and up to his bed room door. Shikamaru pushed it open and walked into the room, Shizuka following. Her team mate's room was pretty plain with just a bed, a bureau, and a closet.

_Kinda boring... _Shizuka said, yawning.

"Okay, I'm not much of a teacher," said Shikamaru, striding over to his closet. "However, I'm a pretty good game player." He opened his closet and pulled out a square board consisting of eighty-one squares and a small plastic baggy of wodden wedge shaped game pieces. "Have you ever played shogi?"

Shizuka nodded, but she knew she wasn't very good at it. Nine out of ten times it was her king that would be captured in the end. Once she was beaten by her ten year old cousin, who still bugged her about it two years later.

"Have you ever won?" Shikamaru continued. Shizuka made a face that said, "Not really" and shook her head. She felt embarrassed. She wasn't a stupid girl, and she knew it too, but by the way the chips were falling in place (the dressing up as a boy thing, the incident with Natto, her constant defeats in shogi), she assumed she was starting to make an impression.

"So, you're not good at it?" Shizuka shook her head. Shikamaru set the game board down on the floor and started setting up the pieces.

"Well, let's play this game- It requires a lot of thinking and logical reasoning," Shikamaru sighed and looked out the window. "Of course, if it were up to me I'd be outside watching the clouds, but I promised Asuma I'd help you, so let's get this over with." Shizuka frowned at him and crossed her arms. Was complaining all this kid did? Seriously, if it was so hard for him to help her why didn't he just say no?

Snapping out of her catty thoughts, Shizuka turned her attention back to the game. Shikamaru had set up the pieces so that he was white and Shizuka was black. Black always went first, so, unsure of how to start, Shizuka moved her pawn forward one space and waited for her team mate to move his piece.

After a while of thinking, Shikamaru moved one pawn one space up.

Shizuka pushed her rook up behind her pawn, hoping to catch Shikamaru's her next turn. She waited for the boy to move.

The only thing Shikamaru did was move his pawn one square foreward.

Shizuka put her rook right infront of Shikamaru's pawn.

Shikamaru moved another pawn next to his other one a single space forward.

_Gotcha! _Shizuka pushed her rook forward and took Shikamaru's pawn. However, after she did that she realized she had fallen prey to her team mate's bishop and watched helplessly as he captured her rook.

_My rook for a pawn? Use your head, Shizuka_! she scolded herself.

"Upset?" Shizuka looked up at Shikamaru. He was looking curiously at her. Shizuka noddded and pointed to her rook which had now become his.

"What?" Shizuka took her roook in her hands and held it up, then held up his pawn.

"Oh, you're upset that you sacrificed your rook for a pawn?" Shizuka nodded and handed Shikamaru back his piece. He sighed.

"You've gotta really watch it in this game. Think logically and don't make any quick desicions," he instructed. Shizuka heeded Shikamaru's words and they continued their game.

Shizuka tried to think logically and she ended up capturing quite a few of Shikamaru's pieces, but she was no match for him. He got even more of her pieces, and, like in all shogi games, was able to use them against her. Eventually the game came to an end, and it was Shizuka's king that got captured. She gave a light, disheartened sigh. Compared to Shikamaru Nara, she was a complete idiot.

"Hey, don't sound so upset," Shikamaru said to her. "For an amateur you're doing pretty well." Shizuka looked up and smiled a 'thank you' to him.

For the rest of the time she was there, Shizuka played some more shogi games with Shikamaru, who ended up wining all the time. When three o' clock rolled around, the two teenagers decided to call it a day, and put the board game away.

_"Thanks for helping me," _Shizuka wrote. _"It was really fun. We should do this again some time."_

"We're gonna have to," Shikamaru said. "One afternoon of playing shogi's not going to make much of a difference."

_"Then when will we play again?" _Shizuka asked. Shikamaru shrugged.

"We'll figure it out next time."

_"Oh, okay," _Shizuka nodded. _"Well, I have to go now. See you tomorrow."_

"Yeah, bye," Shikamaru said. Shizuka left his room and the house, keeping a fast pace.

_Well, that was nice, _she thought, sarcastically. _He was too lazy to even get up to see me to the door!_

--

**Weeeee! I updated! Sorry for the delay, but Im afraid the updates will be coming a little slower from now on. But, never fear, THEY WILL COME! Lol, thanks for reading.**


	12. A Secret Divulged

For the next few weeks, Shizuka's routine was the same: Monday through Friday were mission days spent with the team, Saterday was a relaxing day unless a very important mission came up, and Sundays were 'shogi training' days with Shikamaru.

Although she was no match for her team mate's brains, Shizuka was getting better and better and shogi, and she was also strenghtening her friendship with Shikamaru. They had created a bond that let them state certain things and ask certain questions that neither would have asked before.

"Why didn't you just learn sign languague?" Shikamaru asked one day. "I know it's a drag to learn and all, but it also must be a bother to carry that note pad and pen wherever you go."

Shizuka answered, _"It can be annoying, but learning sign languague is difficult, and not many genin I know can read it." _

Another time, after playing three rounds of shogi, after working up the motivation, and with a few bossy pushes from his mother, Shikamaru showed Shizuka around the Nara clan's compound. The two teenagers talked about their families as they did.

"Don't take this to offence, but I haven't heard of the Kobayashis before you came here," Shikamaru had said.

_"I'm not suprised," _Shizuka wrote. _"We're a small clan, and a clan from the Getsugakure for that matter. We may not be as famous as some clans, but it doesn't matter, I'm fine with living a simple, small life with my mom and relatives."_

"What about your dad?" asked Shikamaru.

_"He was killed on a mission when I was nine," _Shizuka told him. _"Now it's just me, my mom, and the rest of the clan."_

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Shikamaru said.

_"It's okay, it was a long time ago," _Shizuka wrote.

The weeks passed on and on, and Shizuka spent more and more time with Shikamaru. But something was happening to her. She began to feel unlike herself around him. She's become self concious about her hair, her clothes, and other things like that. Though she had been shy with everyone, Shizuka found she was getting a little more timid whenever she was around Shikamaru. She had no idea what was up with her. Finally, one day, she figured it out.

She liked that boy. And she liked him a lot. Shizuka felt weird. She had been in love before, but that crush on Katsu didn't compare to how she felt about Shikamaru now. With Shikamaru, she felt flighty, shy, happy, and self concious all at the same time. She didn't feel that when she liked Katsu. She only felt slightly shy when she did.

Shizuka was at Ino's, one day. They were looking at magazines, and Shizuka listened to Ino talk about this and that. But she only half listened. The other half of her mind was on a certain boy from her team. The one with the lazy nature. The one that was a pure genius. The one who looked so cute when he was confused. The one-

"Shizuka! Are you listening to me?!" Ino demanded, sharply. Shizuka snapped out of her thoughts and grabbed her note pad.

_"Sorry, Ino, what did you say?" _Ino looked at the note with a weird expression on her face, then looked up at Shizuka.

"You're in the moon today. Is something on your mind?" Shizuka shook her head, hoping Ino wouldn't see the colour in her cheeks, and looked out the window.

"You're blushing," Ino observed, cocking one eyebrow. That made Shizuka blush even more and she shook her head widly. Ino sat up a little straighter and looked her freind in the eye for a few minutes. After the pause, she snapped her fingers.

"You're in love!" she concluded, triumphantly. Shizuka didn't make any denying gestures, or write anything in her note pad. What was the point? Ino had figured it out, and when she figured out something like this, she didn't let it go.

"Don't deny it, Shizuka-chan, you've been out of it all day," Ino said, smiling. After a small pause, Shizuka nodded her head, looking down at the magazine on the floor.

"Just as I thought," Ino said. "So, who do you like? Tell me, tell me, please!"

_"Do you promise not to laugh?" _Shizuka asked.

"Cross my heart," Ino promised. Shizuka nodded her head.

_"Okay, I'll tell you." _Shizuka took a deep breath. _"I like Shikamaru." _Ino's eyes grew as round as hubcaps. She clapped her hands over her mouth and screamed, waking Soba up, who was sleeping on the bed.

"For real!?" Ino cried. "You're in love with Shikamaru?" Biting her lip, Shizuka nodded. Was Ino upset or happy by this?

"I bet it's from all the training you've been doing with him, right?" Ino guessed. Shizuka nodded again. Ino gave her team mate a small grin.

"Does he know?" Shizuka shook her head. She didn't really want him to know, but at the same time, she desperately wanted to tell him. Why did love have to be so confusing?

"Geez, Shizuka, why didn't you tell him!?" Ino asked, sounding as if Shizuka forgot to inform the Fifth Hokage that war had been claimed on the Leaf Village. Shizuka shrugged.

_"I'm too shy," _she answered. _"Besides, he might become scared of me if he doesn't like me back."_

"You don't know that for sure," Ino pointed out. "The worst Shikamaru can do is say, 'I don't like you in that way'. He's too lazy to say or do anything else if he doesn't love you back."

_"Don't be so hard on him like that," _Shizuka told her, defensively. _"He may be lazy, but he's a very nice boy." _Instead of getting mad at Shizuka when she wrote that, Ino gave her a knowing smile.

"Wow, you are _so_ in love with him," she said. "You better tell him quick, before you explode!" She thought for a minute. "Besides, you're not going to stay with our team forever. You should tell him before you get moved!"

Shizuka sighed, the thought of leaving her friends and the boy she liked upsetting her. Maybe Ino did have a point.

--

It was night time. The moon lighted the path Shizuka and Shikamaru were walking on. After extending shogi training from the evening into the night, Shikamaru was walking Shizuka home after his mother had told him to. Shizuka didn't try to make conversation while they walked, for she was too nervous. She had decided that she was going to tell Shikamaru no matter how shy she was tonight.

_I've gotta do this! _she thought. _If I don't before get moved into a different team, then I'll really regret it!_

"You're awfully anti social tonight," Shikamaru noted, boredly. "Usually you'd be writing something down to tell me or doing some weird gestures." Shizuka pretended to yawn.

"Tired?"

Another nodded.

The two young ninja soon made it to Shizuka's house. As Shikamaru said goodbye, Shizuka could feel her heart slam against her rib cage. This was it. She was going to do it. She was going to tell Shikamaru Nara, that she, Shizuka Kobayashi, loved him. Summoning all her courage, she tapped him on the shoudler.

"What?" Shikamaru asked. Taking a deep breath, Shizuka covered her heart with her hands and looked up at him dotingly.

"What do you want to tell me?" Shikamaru asked. He didn't get it. Shizuka tried a different approach. She pointed to her eye, covered her heart with her hands, then pointed at Shikamaru.

"You see me? Well that's good, I sure hope you're not blind," he said. Shizuka threw her hands up in the air. She thought this kid was a genius! She tried one more time, but before she even got to make the first gesture, Shikamaru stopped her.

"If it's so hard to tell me now, why don't you wait unitl tomo-" Shikamaru was interrupted by what Shizuka did.

She did not want to wait until tomorrow to tell him. For all she knew, she could be gone from their team tomorrow. She was desperate to tell him _now_. Without thinking, she stood on her tiptoes, leaned towards her team mate a little bit and gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

Shikamaru stared at her, suprised. Shizuka realized what she had just done, and felt her whole face turn several shades of red. She blew it.

Without so much as a glance, Shizuka ran up to her front door like she was being chased by a wild animal, wrenched it open, flew through it, and closed it as fast as she could.

--

**Now things get interesting! Lol. Thanks for reading, everyone!**


	13. Blue

Shizuka ran into the house, breathing heavily, her heart rapidly beating.

She did not just do that.

But she did.

Shizuka kicked off her shoes, ran into her room, and locked the door. She threw herself onto her bed, and stared up at the ceiling, shaking and breathing heavily.

She just kissed the boy she liked.

Shizuka had never ever kissed someone spontainiously like that. Not even her relatives. She always waited for the invitation to kiss someone. The girl reflected on what had just happened. She touched her lips, remembering the sensation of them against Shikamaru's cheek. It felt... nice.

_Nice? _Shizuka thought. _There's nothing nice about this situation Shizuka Kobayashi! You blew it! You've probably scared him now, and now he'll probably not talk to you ever again! _Shizuka sighed at the fact, remembering the look on her team mate's face after she pulled away. His eyes were as round as hubcaps, and his mouth had become a short, firm line. Shizuka cringed, feeling herself blush again.

He probably hated her now. What was going to happen tomorrow?

Shizuka felt as if she had been pushed into an icy cold pool when she thought about facing him tomorrow. But he wouldn't make a big deal in front of the rest of the team, would he? Would he work alongside her like normal? Would he talk to her? Would he even look at her...?

Shizuka heaved a sigh, as she got off her bed, and changed into her pajamas. She snuggled underneath her covers, and closed her eyes, willing sleep to overcome her.

--

Shizuka was sleeping soundly, when her mother came in and woke her up.

"Where were you last night?" she asked. "You were late. Did you spend all that time at Shikamaru's playing a board game?!" Shizuka blushed at the memory of last night. She blushed even more when she remembered she had to face Shikamaru this morning. Midori raised her eyebrows.

"Shizuka-chan, what's with the face? And why are you blushing?" Shizuka shook her head, and got out of bed, and made her way downstairs for breakfast, not answering her mother's questions. She sat down at the table and waited as Midori made her some toast.

"Are you feeling alright today, dear?" she asked. "You look like you're going to be sick."

_Yeah, sick with worry! _Shizuka thought, but she shook her head, telling Midori she wasn't sick. Midori looked at her skeptically, but didn't ask any further questions.

After breakfast, Shizuka got dressed, and left to meet Ino at the corner of her street... Oh, geez, what was she going to tell Ino? Half of Shizuka wanted to tell Ino about her scew up last night, and yet, the other half of her was encouraging her to carry the secret with her to the grave.

Shizuka was walking down the street, shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight. She saw her friend waiting for her near a stop sign. Taking a deep breath, Shizuka walked over to her, and raised her hand in greeting.

"Hi," Ino said, cheerily. "So, what happened last night?"

Shizuka froze. She looked at Ino with a mix of confusion and shock on her face. Had she found out already?

"How did it go with Shikamaru last night? Weren't you guys playing shogi or something?" Ino asked. Heaving a sigh, Shizuka nodded. Ino continued to look at her as they walked.

"Well...?" she said. "How did it go? Do you think he might like you back? Did he show any sign that he liked you? Did you tell _him_ anything?" Shizuka heaved another sigh. She couldn't hide this bit of information from her best friend. Slowly, Shizuka nodded her head.

"Oooohhhh, what happened!?" Ino asked, interested. "Tell me! Please!"

Embarrassed, Shizuka raised her right palm to her mouth, and blew a kiss. Ino squealed.

"Oh! You blew him a kiss!? That's so cute, even if it _is_ Shikamaru!" she said happily. Shizuka shook her head, gravely. Ino furrowed her brow. "Huh? You mean you didn't blow him a kiss?" Shizuka shook her head and pointed to her cheek. Ino's jaw dropped. She let out a short scream.

"Oh my gosh! You gave him a kiss on the cheek!?" Shizuka frantically raised her index finger to her lips, wanting Ino to keep her voice down.

_Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! _she thought.

"You gave him a kiss on the cheek!" Ino repeated, practically bouncing as she walked. "Omigod, omigod, omigod! No way!" She started talking very fast. "Did he kiss you back? Did he like it? Did he not like it? Are you guys dating now? What'd it feel like? Oh, this isn't fair! You got your first kiss before me! I want my first kiss with Sasuke! Speaking of, Shizuka, have you seen Sasuke lately? I want to meet him sometime soon. Maybe I'll get a kiss then!..."

On and on Ino went about kissing Sasuke, meanwhile Shizuka felt her emotions get all mixed up. She was happy to get the kissing secret off her chest, sad to know she may have destroyed all possible chances of being with the boy she liked, worried about how Shikamaru felt about it, and nervous to face him and the rest of the team. She sighed, and listened as Ino continued to yammer about kissing and boys.

"Oh my gosh, really, Shizuka, who would believe your luck?" she said. "Even if the boy you like is kinda..." she trailed off. "...Well, it doesn't matter, but I find it sooooo cute, that you, Shizuka Kobayashi, were the first to kiss your crush, Shikamaru Nara!"

"Shizuka did _what!?_" cried a voice. Ino and Shizuka looked up.

They had reached their team's meeting place near the bridge. Everyone had heard what Ino said. Asuma had his eyebrows raised, and Chouji looked just plain confused. Shizuka dared to look up at Shikamaru. When he caught her eye, he almost immediately turned away. Shizuka couldn't help but to feel hurt.

"Oh! Um-uh- heheh... Uh- Nothing, I-I didn't say anything," Ino said, nervously, looking at her suprised and confused team mates. She glanced over at Shizuka, who was frowning at the ground.

"...Okay..." Asuma sighed and rolled his eyes. _Teenagers, I swear to God... _he thought. Asuma told the young ninja what their missions were today as quickly as he could, for he could feel tension in the atmosphere among his students. With that, Team 10 set off.

Shizuka walked alone, behind her team mates, feeling sad as she thought about what she had done. Now that she had kissed Shikamaru, and told Ino, her whole team knew. It was guarented that the rumour would spread among the genin of the Leaf Village, and she'd probably be talked about as, 'The girl who lay one on Shikamaru Nara, and scarred him for life'.

"Hey," said a quiet voice. Shizuka looked up. Ino was looking at her sympathetically. "I'm sorry I said that loudly. The boys weren't supposed to hear that." Sighing, Shizuka nodded, understandingly. Ino's apology was definately worth something, but it didn't change the fact that both Chouji and Asuma-sensei knew what happened. Not to mention that Shikamaru was probably even more embarrassed now.

Shizuka didn't try and socialize for the rest of the time they walked, and, for probably the first time in her life, Ino was silent as well.

--

Shizuka was crouching down, pulling weeds out of a muddly garden and throwing them in a bucket that lay near her. It had begun to rain, but Shizuka didn't have a hood, so her hair got wet, and basically everything else on her. She continued to pull weeds from some lady's flower bed, not glancing up at any of her team mates.

Suddenly, someone walked up beside her, crouched next to her, and began to pull the weeds out along with her. Shizuka looked at who had joined her. To her suprise, it was Shikamaru.

"You told Ino," he said in a low voice so that only she could here. Despite the rain, Shizuka got out her note pad and pen to write an explaination.

_"She's my friend, that's why I told her," _she wrote. _"Shikamaru, I'm really sorry. I didn't want her to blurt that out infront of Chouji and Asuma-sensei, and she didn't either, it just kind of happened." _Shizuka paused before adding one more thing: _"And I'm sorry about last night as well." _

Shikamaru read the note with an undecipherable look on his face. He muttered, "This is a real drag", got up, and left Shizuka. The poor girl heaved a sigh and continued to pull weeds from her employer's flower bed.

While leaning over to grab a weed that was out of her reach, Shizuka slipped, and fell right into the dirt and mud. Upset, she wiped a smudge of mud from her cheek and frowned. She couldn't believe how this day was turning out: Her secret was uncovered, she embarrassed herself and her friend, she had Shikamaru angry with her, and she was over tired.

Blinking away a few tears, Shizuka continued with her work.


	14. Goodbye

**Hi, everyone! Thank you to Wateranddarkness666, rukia23, and everyone else for the reviews! Here's the next chapter:**

**--**

Shizuka walked home alone in the rain, thinking about today. Why did it have to turn out this way? Why couldn't life be like a movie where you kiss someone, then they automatically love you back? Shizuka kicked a rock aside, as she neared her house. She tried to put on a happy face so that her mom wouldn't see that she was miserable.

Shizuka walked into the house quietly. Midori wasn't there. Sighing, she took off her wet shoes, and made her way to her bedroom, where she changed out of her dirty, wet clothes, and into some comfortable clean ones.

The girl looked at her reflection in the mirror, and her gaze shifted to her reflected bureau, which had a picture on it. Shizuka turned away from the mirror, walked over to the desk, and picked up the picture frame.

It was a picture of her and her team. She smiled fondly as she observed Ino's cheerful smile, Chouji with a chip bag in his hands, and her own shy grin. Then her eyes shifted to Shikamaru and she gave a sad smile. He was the only one not smiling in the picture. Instead, he had on his usual, bored face, and his arms were crossed.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Shizuka put the photo down. She flopped onto her bed with her iPod, and started to listen to the first song that came on. By chance, she found herself listening to Hasu:

_Someday, I'll find you  
Someday, I'll tell you it's true  
Be my tongue tied, or my eyes shut,  
I'll still love you no matter what.  
But for now, I dream we'll meet soon,  
As you hold me tightly under the red moon..._

Shizuka frowned and turned off her iPod. She didn't feel like listening to Under the Red Moon right now.

--

Shizuka stood before the Leaf Village's leader, feeling on the spot, nervous, and sad. It was time. She was being put into a different team. No longer was she going to be a part of Team 10. Shizuka turned her head to her mother, who was sitting on a small chair near the door, and gave her a sad look. Midori nodded to the front of the room, and Shizuka turned her head, paying attention to the Fifth Hokage.

"Now, then, tell me what your name is again," Tsunade said, looking through some papers on her desk. Shizuka was about to get her note pad and pen out, but Shizune jumped in.

"Her name's Shizuka Kobayashi," she said. She glanced up at the genin. "Am I right?" Shizuka nodded.

"Oh yes, that's right," Tsunade said, pulling a small scroll from her drawer. "You're the girl in the clan from the Moon Village." Shizuka nodded again.

"Well, I hope your time with Team 10 has been fun," Tsunade said.

_So fun, yet too short, _Shizuka thought, swallowing hard. She could feel a lump in her throat but she ignored it.

"Okay, tomorrow you will start with a new squad: Team 6," Tsunade said, reading the scroll. "This team consists of Tsubaki Ito, Ibara Maruyama, and their sensei, and Tsubaki's father, Saburo Ito."

Shizuka started blinking, so she fixed her gaze on the ground. She didn't know those people at all. She didn't _want_ to know those people. She wanted to stay with Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru, even if he didn't like her right now. And she wanted to be taught under Asuma's guidence. Calling another person 'sensei' would just sound wrong right now.

"Well, kid? What do you think?" Tsunade asked. Shizuka didn't answer. She stared at the ground, blinking furiously. What hurt her the most was knowing that she screwed things up with Shikamaru. He was probably glad she was going. Suddenly, a small sob passed between her lips. Tsunade scowled.

"Hey, what'er you crying about? Are you upset because you're leaving Team 10?" she asked. Ashamed, Shizuka nodded her head slowly. Tsunade frowned.

"Well, tough cookies, girly. You can't always be a part of their team; they're already a three man cell." Hearing that made Shizuka's tears spill from her eyes, and she furiously wiped them away. She couldn't believe she was crying in front of the Fifth Hokage of the Konahagakure.

"What's wrong with you?" Tsunade barked. "You're a ninja- Control your emotions!"

"Tsunade-sama," Shizune said, gently. "I think Shizuka-chan's made some personal bonds with Team 10. Don't you think you could ease up on her a little bit?" Shizuka looked up at Shizune, and was thankful someone was finally understanding.

"She's just going into a different team, Shizune," Tsunade grumbled. "It's nothing to cry over." Shizuka watched as Shizune held Tsunade with a gaze that said, "Come on, ease up on the kid." Tsunade rolled her eyes and sighed. "Would you like to pet Tonton?" she mumbled, reluctantly. She gestured the cute little pig Shizune was holding in her arms. Shizune put Tonton down, and she trotted up to Shizuka.

"Oink?" she said, looking at Shizuka. Forcing a smile, the genin bent down, and petted the pig on her head. At the same time she tucked her hair behind her ears with her other hand, and her fingers brushed by the small, silver hoops in her lobes that symbolized she was a part of Team 10. Shizuka sighed, got up, thanked the Hokage, and left with Midori.

--

"I can't believe you're going!" Ino cried as Shizuka bid farewell to her friends. Ino was very put off by the news. She turned to Asuma.

"Sensei, this isn't fair!" she cried. "Can't we ask the Fifth if Shizuka can-"

"For the last time, Ino, no, we can't," Asuma said, impatiently. "Lady Hokage made up her mind already, and no one should try and change the desicion. You knew this was coming."

Shizuka walked over to Ino and handed her a note she had written while Asuma had lectured her.

_"Ino, since the day I joined Team 10, you were always so kind and nice to me, even though I was the new kid in town. You're my best friend, and I'll make sure we'll still see each other, even if I am on another team." _Ino read the note and smiled sadly. She threw her arms around Shizuka, and gave her a hug.

"Thanks, Shizuka," she said. "Maybe we can plan something for this weekend?" Shizuka nodded eagerly.

"Shizuka," Asuma said, approaching her. "You're a very good kunoichi, and I must say, your logic and thinking have improved. I know you'll do well with your new team." Shizuka forced a smile, and bowed respectfully to her teacher. She then walked over to Chouji.

She didn't know what to say, for out of her three team mates, he was the one she didn't really get to know all that well. She raised her hand in a farewell. Chouji waved back.

"Bye, Shizuka," he said. "It was fun having you on the team while it lasted."

_"Thanks." _Was what Shizuka wrote on the paper she handed to Chouji.

Then, she walked over to Shikamaru, the person she had been dreading saying goodbye to the most. Slowly, she looked up at him with some what pitiful eyes, and handed him a note.

_"I'm sorry," _Shikamaru read. He observed Shizuka for a minute. He could tell she had been through a lot these past few days. She looked at him sadly and dejectedly, as he only stared back. In truth, he felt like it was going to be weird not having her around, and he'd have to find someone else to play shogi with, so he decided to try and make her feel a little better.

"It's okay," he said, stuffing the note in his pocket. That was all he could come up with at the moment.

Shizuka nodded, and started off on the path towards her new team's meeting place. With one last look, and a wave to Team 10, she turned around, her back to them, as she fought back a horrible feeling mixed with sadness, guilt, love, and fear that was welling up inside her.

--

**I know it was a short chapter, sorry about that. The next one will probably longer. Until next time, sayanora!**


	15. Predators and Prey

Shizuka saw her new team's meeting place up ahead, near the book shop. Heaving a sigh, Shizuka continued to walk until she stopped in front of three people waiting for her at the side of the street.

The group was composed of one man and two girls Shizuka's age. The man was tall, and muscular. He had short brown hair, dark eyes, and a small goatee on his chin. He wore his jacket over a black t-shirt, and wore simple blue sweatpants on his bottom half. His bandana was tied around his arm.

_That must be my new sensei, Saburo Ito, _Shizuka thought, sadly. She observed her two new team mates.

The first girl is about a head taller than her with long, dark brown hair that was held back out of her face with her head band. Her grey eyes were narrowed as she scrutinized Shizuka suspiciously. She was wearing a teal shirt under a mauve vest and stylish blue jeans.

The second girl was a little shorter than the first, but was still taller than Shizuka. Her long, chestnut hair fell a little past her shoulders, and her bangs nearly brushed her brown eyes. She was wearing a grey and purple, boat necked shirt and nearly the same jeans as her companion, but in a darker shade of blue. Her bandana was worn around her waist, serving as a belt, in the same style as Shizuka.

"Ah, you must be Shizuka Kobayashi," said Saburo, approaching the gloomy genin. Unaware of her sadness, her new sensei smiled a some what cheesey smile and offered her his hand. Reluctantly, Shizuka shook it.

"Welcome to Team 6!" he said. "Allow me to make introductions. This is Ibara Maruyama-" Saburo motioned to the taller of the two girls. Not even cracking a smile, Ibara nodded a frosty hello "- and this is my lovely daughter, Tsubaki Ito." The second girl raised her hand passively as a greeting, not paying attention. Saburo faced his new student, that cheesey smile of his never wavering. "I'm your new sensei, Saburo. Are you ready to start today's mission?"

_No, _Shizuka thought. Knowing that was not the polite, or right response, she nodded. Saburo clapped his hands.

"Alright! Follow me, girls!" He set off down the road with the three kunoichi trailing behind. Shizuka dragged her feet as she walked behind Tsubaki and Ibara, who were in deep coversation with each other. Shizuka wasn't paying attention to them talking until she heard her name mentioned.

"So, what do you think of the new girl, whats-her-face... Shizuka, I think is what your dad said?" asked Ibara in a hushed tone.

"I dunno..." Tsubaki considered it for a moment. "She's kinda quiet."

"Didn't Saburo-sensei say she couldn't talk or something?" Ibara said.

"Oh, yeah, he said she was a mute," Tsubaki confirmed, nodding. Ibara scoffed.

"If I didn't have a voice, I don't know what I'd do," she said. "I wouldn't be able to talk, sing, or really do anything."

Shizuka felt rather put off. What was Ibara talking about? You could do many things without a voice. Shizuka thought her new team mate shouldn't have talked unless she experienced being mute for herself first.

"I know, I know," Tsubaki said, understandingly. She paused for a moment. "You know, the new girl's kinda short. I'm glad I'm tall, except I've got a bit of a jelly belly... Maybe I wish I was as short as her."

"Don't say that, Tsubaki-chan," Ibara cooed. "You don't have a jelly belly, you have a nice, flat stomach... Actually... Not only is the new girl short, she's scrawny as well. You don't want to have a body like her's." The two girls giggled a little bit, while Shizuka felt her cheeks and ears burn. She cleared her throat, to tell her new team mates she was within earshot, but they either didn't hear her, or paid her no heed.

"Yeah, you're right, Ibara-chan," Tsubaki said. "Besides, if I had the new girl's body, I'd have, like, no boobs what so ever." Ibara snickered.

"I noticed that! Even in a tank top, you can hardly tell she's got anything under there." The two girls giggled some more. Shizuka was insulted. So what if she wasn't tall, well built, or busty? Tallness, flat stomachs, and boobs did not make the world go round. Angrily, she scribbled down a note, tapped Tsubaki on the shoulder, and handed her the paper torn from her notebook.

_"You know, I'm right behind you, and I can hear every word your saying." _Tsubaki gave her paper a weird look and handed it to Ibara to read. Once Ibara read it she gave Shizuka a piercing look as well.

"Geez, I wouldn't have pegged you for an eavesdropper, Shizuka," she said. "Didn't your parents ever tell you it was rude to listen to other people's conversations?" Furiously, Shizuka wrote down another note and showed it to Tsubaki and Ibara.

_"It's not eavsedropping when you're gossiping about me," _she wrote. _"Please leave my height, build, and chest alone. That's my bussiness and not your's." _Tsubaki gave Shizuka a snide look. Suddenly, an evil looking smile crept onto her face.

"Oh, wait, I've heard of you," she said. "Aren't you the girl who kissed that guy?" Shizuka tensed up and blushed.

_Oh no, she's heard!_

"A guy!? What guy!?" asked Ibara, interested. Tsubaki's evil grin spread across her face.

"Oh, you know, that lazy kid that went to the Ninja Academy with us, Shikamaru Nara." Ibara and Tsubaki laughed aloud.

"Oh, I heard about that!" Ibara screeched. "Didn't she, like, corner him and kiss him right on the lips?!"

"I dunno," Tsubaki snickered. "I heard she chased him, and begged him for a kiss 'til he gave in!" Both girls howled with laughter. Shizuka had never felt more humiliated in her life. She'd take trying to control Natto over this embarrassing moment. Both versions were lies; she only kissed Shikamaru on the cheek, and she didn't even chase him, corner him, or beg him.

_"You shouldn't believe everything you hear," _she wrote, frustrated. After handing the paper to Tsubaki, Shizuka stomped off, and followed behind Saburo, trying to ignore Tsubaki and Ibara's hurtful laughs and gossip.

--

"So, how's life with your new team?" Ino asked, as she and Shizuka sat outside in Ino's backyard on the garden swing together. Shizuka sighed.

A week had passed since she had joined Team 6, and life with Ibara, Tsubaki, and her father, had royaly sucked. So far, they had only done D ranked mission, and on all those missions, Shizuka was barely needed. None of her skills or strong points ever came into play, so she usually ended up watching Tsubaki, Ibara, and Saburo do all the work. To make matters worse, her relationship with Tsubaki and Ibara was anything but friendly. Those two girls didn't like Shizuka one bit. They always ridiculed her, teased her, talked behind her back, and everything else that you would expect from the common bitch. And what did Saburo-sensei do about it? Absolutely nothing. He was hardly even aware his daughter and her friend hated Shizuka, and that Shizuka hated the whole team in general. He was all brawn and no brain. Sighing, Shizuka wrote her friend a note.

_"It's absolutely horrible! My two team mates hate me, my sensei is an unaware jerk that does nothing about it, and everytime we do missions, I'm always the one standing off to the side, not doing anything!"_ Ino raised her eyebrows.

"Wow, is it really that bad?" Shizuka nodded gravely. "Well... Didn't you tell your mom?" Shizuka shook her head.

_"No, because she would just tell me to ignore them and concentrate on being a kunoichi, or something like that." _Shizuka sighed as a familiar lump formed in her throat. _"God, Ino, I hate it on Team 6! As childish as I may sound, I wanna be with you guys on Team 10! You're my best friend, and wouldn't give me a hard time about... well, everything! Asuma was a great sensei, a much better one than Saburo. I was learning so much, now that I'm in Team 6, it's nearly all gone down the drain! And worst of all..." _Shizuka paused for a minute to wipe away some rogue tears that had escaped from her eyes. _"... I miss Shikamaru... We ended on such a bad note, and it's all my fault! Now, I'm being teased for it, and so is he!" _Shizuka began to cry, and buried her face in her hands. Ino put an arm around her shoulders.

"Hey, don't cry, Shizuka-chan," she said. "If it makes you feel any better, it wasn't your fault, and no one's been teasing Shikamaru about the whole kiss thing." Ino thought for a minute. "Hey, who are your two team mates anyway?"

_"Tsubaki Ito and Ibara Maruyama," _Shizuka answered. Upon reading the note, Ino let out a weird yell.

"Ew! Tsubaki and Ibara!?" she cried. "Ugh, I knew those girls in the Academy, and, aside from Sakura, they were the most whiny, spoiled, annoying little cows I ever met!" Ino frowned. "Wow... Lady Hokage put you on a team with Ito and Maruyama... Was she drunk again or something?" Shizuka smiled, good humouredly, wiping away the remainder of her tears. Ino could always cheer her up. Her friend laughed as well.

"Look, Shizuka, don't worry about them. Who knows? Maybe within time, you'll get moved into a different team?" Ino shrugged. "Either that, or your luck will increase somehow."

Shizuka hoped that Ino was right, because she could use a bit of luck right now.

--

**And, there's chapter fifteen! Wow, this is the longest story I've written since Run Across the Sea. Oh, and here's an interesting fact for all you cool readers: I borrowed the names 'Tsubaki' and 'Ibara' from the two women you saw in episode one in the scene where all the kids had graduated from the Academy except for Naruto. I think they were two of the moms who looked at Naruto as only Kyuubi or something... Who knew two unimportant characters had names? **

**P.S.: I borrowed their discriptions too. Thank you, Masashi Kishimoto!**


	16. Kunoichi Klash

"Good morning, girls!" chirpped Saburo one morning. "I got a surprise for you three!"

"If it's another weird, out dated eighties cassette again, Daddy..." Tsubaki began while she twirled her hair.

"No, it's even better than that, Tsubaki-chan," Saburo said, brightly. "We're going on a B ranked mission today!"

"Urgh, _finally!_" Tsubaki cried, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Yeah, seriously!" Ibara said in agreement. "If I had to go on another D ranked mission today, I swear, I would have jumped off a cliff; All that work makes me sweat too much, and it is totally _gross!_"

_Well, well, Princess, welcome to the world of being a kunoichi, where the harder the mission is, the more you work and sweat, _Shizuka thought angrily, although she had to admit, she was rather pleased as well by Saburo-sensei's news. She too, had found the D ranked mission monotonous, and going on a B ranked mission sounded exciting, even if she did have to work with Princess Spoiled-Brat-Who's-A-Daddy's-Girl (Tsubaki) and Princess Lazy-And-Only-Cares-About-Herself (Ibara).

"So, spill the details, Daddy, what're we doing?" asked Tsubaki, still twirling her hair.

"We'll be carrying a top secret scroll to the neighboring city," Saburo explained. Tsubaki made a disgusted face.

"We're genin, not _courrier ninja!_" she said with malice.

"Don't be like that, Tsubaki-chan," Saburo said.

"Well, geez, _saw-ry!_" Tsubaki snapped at her father. "Am I not aloud to express my dislike for freakin' _mail man ninja!? _Besides, what's the point of this mission? It's not like we're going to have to do something dangerous, we're just delivering a scrap of rolled up paper! _Gawd!_"

"On the contrary, Tsubaki-chan, we will be doing something dangerous," Saburo said. "You see, all the safe routes to our destination are blocked off because of the Red Moon Festival coming up."

_Red Moon Festival? _wondered Shizuka. _What's that?_

"So, the route we're taking is the most dangerous one," Saburo continued. "That road is plagued by criminals, and enemy ninja. You girls have to be on top form today." Ibara scoffed.

"Geez, Saburo-sensei, chill," she said. "You're talking as if it's an S ranked mission. It's just a stupid B ranked mission." Shizuka shot Ibara a glare. One minute she was happy about the B ranked mission, now she was talking as if it was a D ranked one. How much more could this stupid girl contradict herself? Ibara noticed Shizuka was looking at her, and gave her a cold stare. "What're you looking at, Shorty?" she demanded. Shizuka glowered at her and turned her head back to her sensei.

"Alrighty, girls, let's go!" Saburo set off down the road towards the Konaha's gates with his students trailing behind him as usual. Ibara and Tsubaki gossiped and chatted while they walked, while Shizuka remained silent. She was promising herself that no matter what happened, she would prove herself useful on this mission. She was tired off standing off on the sidelines, watching Miss Whiny and Madame Shrew doing all the work.

As Team 6 approached the gates off the Konaha, Shizuka heard somebody's familiar voice call out her name.

"Shizuka! Over here!" Shizuka turned her head, and was happy to see Team 10 walking by, on the side of the street. Ino was the one who had called Shizuka's name, and was waving. Shizuka smiled and waved back. Then, she saw Shikamaru, who was looking at her listelessly. Shizuka's smile disappeared and was replaced by a neutral look. She got caught up looking at him. She had forgotten how cute he looked when he was disinterested (which was all the time), she had forgotten how he passively stood there with his hands in his pockets, and she had forgotten the flighty feeling she got when she saw him. Wow, she missed him.

Shizuka was about to be brave and wave to him, when Tsubaki and Ibara shouted, "Hey, Shorty! Why don't you give Shika another kiss?!" The two girls started laughing their horrible laugh, and Shizuka felt her cheeks burn.

"HEY, YOU STUPID COWS!" Ino screamed at them from across the street. "LEAVE SHIZUKA AND SHIKAMARU ALONE, OR I'LL RIP OUT THOSE UGLY, FAKE EXTENSIONS OF YOUR'S!" Uh-oh. Ino had done it. She had insulted their hair. She was in for a lot of catting. Tsubaki and Ibara stopped dead in their tracks, turned slowly, and faced Ino with looks that were intended to kill on their faces.

"What did you say, Yamanaka?" Ibara spat, walking up to the blonde kunoichi.

"You heard me, Maruyama," Ino growled. "You better leave Shizuka alone, or else your hair will end up pretty darn short!"

"Then your's will end up even shorter, you witch," Tsubaki stepped in. "Threaten us again, and I'll tie you to a chair, and shave you _bald_ with my dad's clippers!" Ino glowered at the two girls.

"You both are unbelievable," she snarled. "You're built up on nothing but empty threats! Amazing!"

"Does this feel like an empty threat to you, Yamanaka!?" asked Tsubaki. Suddenly, she reached out, up to Ino's head, grabbed the lock of bangs that always fell out of Ino's pony tail and pulled on it. Ino yelled in pain, raised her foot, and kicked Tsubaki in the stomach, away from her.

"Keep your hands off my head, you disgusting little worm!" she shrieked. With that, she shoved Tsubaki one more time.

"You-" Tsubaki called Ino a terrible name, and grabbed her by the scruff of her top. All hell broke loose.

Ino and Tsubaki began to push each other, trying to get the other one on the ground. Meanwhile, much hair pulling, and scratching was involved. It was a traditional cat fight. Shizuka ran to her friend's aid, and tried to pry Tsubaki off of Ino, but Tsubaki had a firm hold on Ino's shirt. Ibara stood off to the side, laughing, while Chouji and Shikamaru didn't know what to do.

Before long, Asuma and Saburo rushed over to the fighting girls, and seperated them. None the less, Ino and Tsubaki still tried to hit each other, resisting their senseis arms.

"What is going on here!?" yelled Asuma. He seemed even angrier than the time Shizuka had let Natto run loose at Shinobu's farm. Ino looked up at her teacher.

"Why don't you ask _her_, Sensei!?" she screamed, pointing a threatening finger at Tsubaki. "She's the one with the problem, not me!"

"You shut your mouth now, you ugly toad!" Tsubaki shouted, furiously, struggling against her father's arms. "Or else I'll screw your face up even more!"

"Girls! Girls! That's enough!" Saburo yelled. "Now can somebody please tell me what this is all about?"

"Ino Yamanaka insulted us, Saburo-sensei," Ibara said in a whiny tone. "She called Tsubaki-chan names, and threatened to tear out our hair!"

"So WHAT!?" screeched Ino. "You made fun of Shizuka and Shikamaru, and _PULLED MY HAIR_!" Saburo looked at his daughter, surprised.

"Where you being mean to Shizuka, Tsubaki-chan?" he asked.

"Of course not, Daddy!" Tsubaki said. She wrapped an arm around Shizuka's shoulder, and pulled her close. "Why would I wanna be mean to my own team mate?" Shizuka thought she was going to throw up. She pushed Tsubaki off of her, and glared at her. That girl was such a mean girl, all the mute genin wanted to do was smash her face into a brick wall a couple of times.

"Okay, whatever, let's just get going," Saburo said. He turned to Asuma. "Sorry about this, Asuma."

"Hmph." was Asuma's response. With that, Team 10 walked away.

"Come on, girls, let's go," said Saburo, walking off. Shizuka walked behind Ibara and Tsubaki, who were naming off all the horrible things that were and weren't true about Ino. Shizuka just decided to ignore them. If she spoke up, it would only lead to more fighting.

--

The trio of kunoichi had been walking for two hours now, and Shizuka's feet were getting tired. She was pretty bored as well. The path they were walking on was a dirt path through nothing but a forest of trees. Usually nature interested Shizuka, but these trees all looked the same, and they were pretty dense as well, so she couldn't even look into the forest beyond them.

Along with being bored and tired of walking, Shizuka hadn't forgotten what Saburo said about there being criminals and enemy ninja about this path, and she tried her best to keep alert. Fatigue, wariness, and bordome all rolled into one; it was a very strange feeling.

Shizuka continued to follow her team mates and sensei down the forest path as the sun made it's daily way through the sky. Shizuka kept her eyes on the small bag that Ibara had slung over her shoulder as she walked. It contained the scroll they were delivering to the ally town of the Konaha. She wondered what information the scroll contained. What secrets of the Hidden Leaf Village did it hide? What-

"What is _that?!_" Tsubaki exclaimed, pointing to a near by tree. Snapping out of her thoughts, Shizuka followed the girl's finger, and gasped.

Carved into the bark of the tree Tsubaki was pointing at were kanji symbols high lighted in red liquid. Shizuka's stomach did a back flip when she realized the red among the kanji was blood. Ibara read the message out loud.

" _'Come no further, Leaf ninja, or this journey will be your last' ._" Shizuka felt fear seize her heart. No doubt an enemy had written the threatening message, but why would they want to keep her and her team from their destination? Saburo walked up beside her and read the message. He blanched.

"D-don't worry, girls," he said, his voice quivering. "Just stay close to me, and keep alert." With that, the kunoichi walked off, an unnatural chill running up their spines as they continued further down the dangreous route.


	17. A Cruel Illusion

**Sorry I haven't updated in a SUPER long time, everybody. I was on vacation (Busch Gardens rocked!). Anywho, here's the chappy...**

**--**

Shizuka shivered as the threatening message repeated itself in her head: _Come no further, Leaf ninja, or this journey will be your last. _The mute kunoichi was praying that some how that note was just some immature person trying to scare her and her team.

_Who on this beautiful earth carves death notes into a tree with blood as a practical joke, Shizuka? _she asked herself. She shuddered again and forced herself to keep walking.

Trying to ease her fears, Shizuka tried to concentrate on something else. First, she decided to think about her clan: Her mother, her cousins, her aunts and uncles, and everyone in between. But the message found its way back into Shizuka's mind and she became scared all over again.

Next she thought about her best friend. She remembered when she first came to Konaha, and how Ino took her under her wing. How they had built upon their friendship by sleep overs, missions, and training. How Ino had coaxed her to tell Shikamaru how she really felt about him.

The thought of the lazy shinobi made Shizuka replace her fear with another feeling that she couldn't put her finger on. Was it confusion? Was it sorrow? Was it happiness? Shizuka figured out after a while that it was longing she felt.

For just a minute, Shizuka allowed herself to reflect on the memory of the kiss she gave him. She remembered the feeling of her lips on his cheek. He had such a soft cheek. The kiss had felt so good, even though the dread afterwards didn't.

Shizuka wondered if Shikamaru was still angry with her. She assumed he was, and Tsubaki and Ibara's outburst earlier today didn't help anything. The genin heaved a sigh. All of this wouldn't have happened if she hadn't kissed him.

_It wasn't your fault, _said a little voice inside her head. _Shikamaru didn't get your body language, how else would you have told him?_

_Maybe I should have left things the way they were, and not have told him by either body language, notes, or kisses, _Shizuka thought, heavily. She reflected on how things used to be between her and Shikamaru before that fateful night.

She remembered when she first played shogi with, and he had her beaten five minutes in. She went back to the time when the two of them took a study break and went outside to watch the clouds. She reminiced about when she told him about her father. Shizuka smiled sadly. She had been on top of the world, but when she kissed him, that was the moment when it all went down the drain, despite kissing him being the most wonderful thing the kunoichi ever experienced.

"Stop walking, girls," Saburo said, suddenly. He stopped and held up his hand, making Tsubaki, Ibara, and Shizuka halt.

"What is it, Daddy?" asked Tsubaki, quietly.

"I sense chakra among the trees," Saburo answered, whispering. "We're not alone." Ibara let out a frightened squeak, and Tsubaki immediately whipped her head around, looking for signs of danger. Shizuka got scared too. She withdrew a kunai from the pouch around her waist for protection and confidence.

"Stay on your toes," Saburo instructed his students. "Let's go."

Team 6 had barely taken five steps when Saburo screamed, "GIRLS! GET DOWN, NOW!" Without a moment's hesitation, Shizuka threw herself down onto the ground along with her team mates as a huge shuriken whizzed over their heads.

After the danger had passed, Shizuka leapt to her feet, glancing around warrily. The silent stillness of the forest was deafeningly scary. Shizuka gripped her kunai so tightly her knuckles turned white.

All of a sudden, Tsubaki's shrill scream signalled the arrival of about ten enemy ninja who jumped from the trees, bearing down on Team 6.

Shizuka dodged one shinobi dressed in a dark cloak with a mask covering the lower half of his face as he nearly landed on her, his senbon needles in hand.

Wasting no time, Shizuka engaged in close combat with the enemy. She ducked flying senbon needles that came her way, taking swipes at the shinobi with her knife as well, who always managed to get out of the way of the blade.

After some time, Shizuka got frustrated put the kunai handle in her mouth, and quickly made a few handsigns. She replaced herself with a log and ended up behind the rival ninja. As fast as she could, Shizuka pushed the kunai into the man's back. The enemy disappeared in a puff of smoke once the knife was in him. Shizuka raised her eyebrows.

_Shadow clones? _she guessed.

"Careful, girls!" Saburo yelled as he battled another copy. "They're shadow clones!"

_Geez, couldn't have told us that earlier, eh, Saburo-sensei? _Shizuka thought, annoyed. It wasn't long before she saw two more clones running at her with weapons clenched in their fists. Shizuka saw that these ninja didn't have any headbands showing their place of origin. They must have just been rogue ninja. The silent genin jumped up onto a tree branch for safety, and relied on tai-jutsu to defend herself as the enemies followed her into her haven.

Dodging the shuriken and kunai flying at her was harder than before. These clones had quite an aim. Shizuka managed to kick one off the tree branch, and he landed on the ground, disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Shizuka was about to use some nin-jutsu on the other clone, but he was too fast for the girl, and he cut her arm with one swipe of his kunai knife.

Gasping in pain, Shizuka dropped her own knife, and held her arm, trying to stop the bleeding. Suddenly, she felt the pain fade from her arm. She saw the actual cut disappear too. Her arm lost all feeling in it, and it hung limply at her side like a strand of cooked spaghetti. The clone laughed.

"You shoulda been more attentive," he told her, his voice hollow and menacing. "The blade of this kunai is coated in poison, and it paralyzes whatever part of you I cut!"

_Wonderful! _Shizuka thought, frustrated. _How am I supposed to pull off a jutsu with one arm!? _Shizuka jumped down from her tree branch, avoiding another poisonous blade that was thrown at her, and ran some distance away from her enemy, her paralyzed arm flailing as she did.

_Looks like I have to rely on tai-jutsu and weapons only to get myself out of this! _Shizuka thought as she readied herself in a fighting stance. She watched as the clone who cut her jumped down from the tree branch, and ran at her. She stared into his harsh, black eyes bravely.

_C'mon! You asked for it, buddy! _Shizuka thought.

"Shizuka! Watched out!" Saburo yelled, distracting her. "He's about to cast a gen-jutsu on you!" Shizuka turned to her sensei with a perplexed look, wondering if he meant her opponent she was fighting now, or somebody else.

"You fool!" Tsubaki screamed at Shizuka. "Get out of the way!" Shizuka turned back to her opponent, who was running at her, and one look at him sent her into a swoon. She remembered seeing that the clone was sign weaving, and her feeling stupid when Saburo and Tsubaki warned her she was about to be victim to an illusion before she blacked out.

--

When Shizuka woke up she was surrounded by fog. It was everywhere. Shizuka wondered if she was dead, and had gone to heaven.

_Heaven sure is cloudy, _she thought. Suddenly, she remembered that before she fainted, her opponent was going to pull an gen-jutsu on her.

_Is this the illusion? _Shizuka wondered. She was lying on the ground, so she got up, and walked blindly through the fog. The gen-jutsu was like nothing she had experienced before. There was no danger about, she felt no pain, her arm wasn't paralyzed anymore, and the clone who had done this was no where in sight.

_This can't possibly be a gen-jutsu, is it? _Shizuka thought, stopping, and looking around at the fog. She was about to take another step, but the faint sound of groaning made her stop. She looked around. Was that her imagination? She heard another groan, and a forced cough. She wasn't imagining it. Shizuka continued to look around the foggy place.

_Who's making that sound? Where's it coming from? _she wondered. Shizuka heard another moan come from some distance behind her. Whoever was moaning and groaning sounded like they were hurt or in pain. Shizuka stumbled through the fog, following the voice. She stepped in something as she did, and Shizuka shuddered feeling the liquid run into her sandal. She looked down at her feet, which were miraculously still visible. She nearly threw up when she saw that she had stepped in a pool of blood.

Another feeble cough from some distance away made Shizuka jerk her head up, and squint in the direction of it.

_Who's over there? _she wondered. Cautiously, Shizuka forced her legs towards the source of the cough, trying to keep her cool as she walked in more blood.

Before long, Shizuka could make out a figure on the ground. She didn't know who or what it was, but she could tell it was hurt. The bright red trail of blood stood out against the white mist, and it led up to the heap on the ground. Suddenly, the figure stirred, coughed again, and spoke weakly.

"Who's there?" asked a familiar voice. "Help me... Please... I'm hurt..." When she recognized the voice, panic gripped Shizuka and wouldn't let her go. Terrified, she ran towards the figure. She gasped as tears immediately sprang to her eyes when she saw who had called for her help.

Lying at her feet was her beloved Shikamaru with a hug gash on the side of his body that traced from his ribs down to his hip.

Now, Shizuka was no fool. She knew she couldn't talk. There was no way on Earth she would ever be able to articulate, but the sight of her old team mate on the ground, bloody, and most likely dying made Shizuka scream at the top of her lungs.

"Shikamaru!" she cried, as she sank to her knees. It was most definately a gen-jutsu. In the real world, she would not be able to scream or talk. Still, that fact wasn't registering itself in the kunoichi's head at the moment, she was too upset seeing Shikamaru in such a state to remember she was caught in an illusion.

"...Shizuka..." he mumbled, quietly. He turned his head away from her and coughed up some blood. Shizuka crept towards her hurt pash.

"What happened?" she sobbed.

"Tried to... save you..." he managed. "The whole team... tried... I got cut..." Shizuka glanced at the horrible injury on Shikamaru's side, and a fresh wave of tears rolled down her cheeks.

"You tried to save me?" she asked. Shikamaru barely nodded.

"We saw your... team was in trouble..." he explained slowly. "I think... I think it's... done..."

"What? What's done?" Shizuka asked, worried. Suddenly, she got it, and gasped. "Shika! You don't mean you're going to-"

"There's no way... I'm survivng an injury... like this... hours away from... the village..." Shikamaru explained. He forced a small smile on his face, as a thin trickle of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth. "You're safe, though..." he added.

Shizuka wiped her tears away furiously. "What does it matter now?" she whimpered. She couldn't let him go this way, but what could she do? She didn't know any medical jutsu, and no one else was around, so Shikamaru was pretty much dead already. Shizuka wept into her hands, refusing to look at her bloodied friend.

Friend. That wasn't how she felt about him. Shizuka decided she had to tell Shikamaru properly about how she felt. But she was scared. Was this what the boy really wanted to hear in his final moments? Shizuka made up her mind.

"Shikamaru-kun," she said, softly. "I-I have to tell you something..." Shikamaru didn't respond. He had his eyes closed, as his chest had stopped rising and falling in an effort to breathe easier. Shizuka felt like she couldn't breathe.

"No! No!" she cried. "Shika, hang on! Not yet!" Shikamaru still didn't respond. Shizuka got even more distraught. "Shikamaru, answer me! Answer me!" Shizuka began to sob uncontrolably.

"Not like this..." she whimpered. "It was never meant to be like this..." As Shizuka cried over Shikamaru, a light shone in the distance, breaking through all the fog. Shizuka looked up, and watched the light grow brighter, and brighter, blinding her, until it swallowed up both her and her old team mate.

--

**Wow, even I was getting sad writing this chapter. I felt so bad for doing that Shikamaru :( Anyway, thanks for reading. More on the way. **

**PS: That part with Shizuka and Shikamaru was borrowed from a scene in one of my friend's fanfictions, with slight changes. I give credit to her wonderful creativity. Thanks, Proffeser Lupin!**


	18. An Increase of Luck

**Hi, everyone. Thanks for the reviews. They make me feel happy inside **

**To KittyLo9: That is pretty cool! I'll check that story of your's out as well.**

**To Ugly.Beautiful: The Busch Gardens I went to was in Virginia, but I think there _is_ one in Florida. Not sure. By the way, thanks for adding my story to your community. It made me feel special. Lol.**

**Anyway, on with the story!**

--

Shizuka blinked at the bright light in her eyes. It made her head hurt. She squinted, and blinked again. She realized she was staring into a fluorescent light. She squinted her eyes as she tried to sort out the voices she was hearing around here.

"Oh! She's awake!" cried a girl's voice. "Thank God! I thought for sure she was-"

"Ino, calm down. She's just coming to," scolded an adult's voice.

"Wonder what kind of gen-jutsu landed her in here, anyway," said a muffled boy's voice that was followed by the rustling of a bag and a crunching noise.

"The nurse told us, remember? She suffered some kind of emotional trauma while caught up in the hallucination," answered another boy's voice. Shizuka screwed her eyes shut and shook her head, trying to clear it. The back of her head rubbed against a soft, fluffy pillow. It wasn't long before the mute genin realized she was lying in a bed. Perplexed, she opened her eyes again. Instead of staring right into the fluorecent light, Shizuka looked around the room.

The walls were a stark, white colour. The tiled floor was white too. There was a single, blue curtain near the left side of her bed which hid the other beds lined up next to Shizuka's. She was in the hospital.

And sitting around her bed was her old team. Ino sat on a chair at the head of the bed, Asuma stood near the curtain, Chouji sat near the foot of the bed, eating chips (as usual), and Shikamaru stood next to Asuma. Shizuka smiled happily when she saw them.

"Shizuka!" Ino exclaimed, a huge smile splitting across her face. She leaned over and gave her friend a hug. "Geez, girl, you had us worried sick! Even after we got you in the hospital, you wouldn't stop crying! One of the nurses had to sedate you!"

Shizuka furrowed her brow, and cocked her head to one side, asking Ino what she was talking about.

"You were caught in a gen-jutsu," Asuma explained, once Ino let go of Shizuka. "When we found you and your team, you were a wreck."

Shizuka got even more confused. She pointed at Asuma, who laughed.

"Yeah, we found you guys," he explained. "After we crossed paths with your team earlier that day, we had to carry out a mission as well. We used the same path your team was taking to go home, and when we came across you being attacked by rogue ninja, we helped your team fight them off. You were in no condition to continue the mission once they were gone, so we took you back to the Konaha, and to the hospital."

Shizuka raised her eyebrows. She began to feel around her bed, searching for something.

"Looking for this?" asked Ino. She held up Shizuka's waist pouch. Shizuka nodded and took it from her. She reached in it, and pulled out her note pad and a pen, and scribbled down a note. She gave it to Asuma, who read it aloud.

" 'So, there was some truth to the gen-jutsu?'. What are you talking about, Shizuka?" he asked. Shizuka wrote another note.

" 'When I got the illusion cast over me, I saw-" A name was scratched out so furiously, that Asuma couldn't read it. Instead, it was replaced with: "I saw a good friend of mine badly hurt, and he said that you guys saved me.' " Asuma felt a sneaking suspicion as to who this 'friend' was.

"How badly was your friend hurt?" he asked her.

_"He had an awful cut down the side of his body," _Shizuka wrote, shuddering at the memory of the vivid illusion of Shikamaru, bloody and dying at her feet. _"Actually, the illusion showed me his injury was so bad, he... passed away." _

So that's why she was crying so much, Asuma remembered. He glanced over at Shikamaru. He didn't tell Shizuka this, but before she had woken up, Shikamaru had been in the hospital as well. While fighting, he recieved a cut from an enemy kunai on the side of his torso. It wasn't fatal, but the kunai blade was poisonous, so safety precautions were taken, and Shikamaru was treated. The hidden bandages beneathe his clothes prooved it.

Asuma also remembered that at the very moment Shikamaru got cut, Shizuka had broken down in a fit of tears, and fainted. Before that, she leaned against a tree with a blank look on her face. Judging by his student's description of the illusion, the jonin assumed the gen-jutsu Shizuka was suffering from exaggerated an injury given to the person she loved to torrment her.

_That poor girl._ Asuma sighed, shaking his head. He turned back to Shizuka. "Listen, your other team's carried out the mission without you."

_Like usual,_ Shizuka thought, bitterly. She stuck out her lower lip, pouting.

"However," Asuma added. "Once The Fifth Hokage heard about how your progress had been with your new team, she realized she made a mistake when placing you in the team." Shizuka stared at her old sensei, wide eyed.

"It turns out Team 6 isn't in need for your skills or strong points," Asuma explained. "I guess you didn't do much on the missions, huh?" Shizuka shook her head.

"Well, Lady Tsunade's taken you out of Team 6 and is going to put you in a new one," Asuma said. "And-"

"And for the time being, you get to stay with us again!" Ino interrupted, smiling. Shizuka gasped, overjoyed. She wouldn't have to deal with Tsubaki and Ibara anymore, and she'd go back with her old team? The news made Shizuka clap her hands in delight.

"I'm going out for a minute, team," Asuma told his students. "You stay here for now." With that, the jonin walked off.

Shizuka sat her self up in her bed. She smiled at her team mates around her. Ino smiled the widest at her.

"Glad to have you back, Shizuka-chan," she said, amiably.

_"I have to thank you guys for saving me," _Shizuka wrote, showing all three friends her note. _"If you hadn't come along, I would have lost my mind in that gen-jutsu!"_

"Well, if Shikamaru hadn't noticed the comotion up ahead of us, we probably wouldn't have found you," Ino said. Shizuka looked up at Shikamaru. He caught her eye, and his expression remained apathetic.

"Actually," Ino addded slyly. "Shikamaru was also the first to noticed you were under an illusion." The blonde turned to Shikamaru. "Didn't you help Asuma-sensei carry her back here?" Shikamaru shot Ino an unreadable look.

"Yeah, only because she was such a wreck Asuma-sensei was having a hard time running and carrying her at the same time," he mumbled. Shizuka felt a bit of colour rush to her face. Ino smiled in satisfaction seeing Shizuka blush and hearing Shikamaru's answer. Suddenly, she turned to Chouji.

"C'mon, Chouji, let's go find Asuma-sensei, I have to ask him something," she said.

"Go yourself," Chouji said, giving his now empty chip bag a sad look. "You're the one who has to ask Asuma-sensei something, not me." Ino nearly growled in frustration. Couldn't he tell she was trying to get Shizuka and Shikamaru alone together? She glanced at his chip bag and got an idea.

"Or, you could come with me, and we'll stop by the vending machine first," she said. Chouji looked up at her, skeptically.

"Make it the cafeteria," he said. Ino nearly shuddered. She hated cafeteria food. None the less, she thought about her friend and sighed.

"Fine, let's just go." Appeased, Chouji got up and left the hospital room with Ino, leaving Shikamaru and Shizuka alone together in an awkward silence. Shizuka looked at her neatly folded hands on her bed sheet, refusing to look Shikamaru in the eye. Finally, she decided to be brave, and wrote him a note.

_"You saved me."_

Shikamaru shrugged. "It was kinda hard to miss you in a heap on the ground bawling your eyes out," he said. Shizuka winced, imagining how much of a mess she must have been. She scribbled some more words on her paper.

_"But why? I thought you hated me."_

Shikamaru knitted his brow. "I don't hate you," he said. Shizuka raised her eyebrows.

_"Really!?" _she asked. _"I thought you despised me after I... well... you know... gave you a kiss."_ Shizuka looked up at him, awaiting his response. Shikamaru read the note and shook his head.

"No, I was only angry when you told Ino," he said. "I've known her for a long time, she's not really one to be quiet about a shocking secret. But I'm over it." Shizuka nodded. She knew Ino made a mistake, and she didn't blame Shikamaru for getting mad.

"I've got to go home now," Shikamaru said, glancing at the clock that hung on the wall near the door. "If I'm any later than I am, my mom's gonna nag me 'til the cows come home. I'll see you 'round." Shizuka waved goodbye as he left the room.

As she watched him, Shizuka couldn't help but to notice that Shikamaru said absolutely nothing about him being angry that she kissed him.

--

Days later, Shizuka was out of the hospital and as healthy as she ever was. Her team had been carrying out missions that ranged from D to C and all were completed successfully. Her relationship had been patched up with Shikamaru, and although they hadn't played shogi together since she had gone away to Team 6, Shizuka still felt as happy as ever with him.

One day, she was walking around the Leaf Village with Ino, chatting about this and that, when Ino turned the conversation towards Sasuke.

"He walked by my house the other day," she said, dreamily. "I was looking out my window when I saw him. I ran out of the house to say hi, but when I opened the door, he was gone." Ino sighed. "I honestly wish I could spend more time with him."

_"Why don't you ask him out on a date?" _Shizuka suggested.

"I have. Numerous times. But he's always training," Ino sighed, a little discouraged. She gave Shizuka an interested look. "Speaking of boys, what about you and Shikamaru? Why don't _you_ ask _him_ out?" Shizuka bit her lip, and looked down at the ground.

_"I'm too shy,"_ she admitted. Ino blew a raspberry when she read the note.

"Please, Shizuka, if you're too shy, it'll hold you back," she said. "Look what being bold's done for me: So far, I've managed to hug Sasuke twice! That's more than Billboard Brow has _ever _hugged him!" She said the last part with a bit of malice. Shizuka shrugged.

_"I'll give it some time,"_ she wrote._ "You can't rush these things, you know."_

"No, you can't," Ino agreed. The two girls walked in silence until Ino broke it by saying, "Hey! Look at this!" Shizuka looked up and saw her friend pointing to a sign that was posted in the window of a small cafe. Curious, Shizuka read the sign.

**_Come one, Come all, to the Red Moon Festival! Witness the moon change from a dull grey, to a rusty red right before your eyes! This total eclipse of the moon only happens 2-3 years, so don't miss it! Festival begins at 6:00 p.m., June 19th._ **

Below the writing was a picture of a red moon in a starless navy blue sky, and below it was a festival filled with people dressed in elaborate kimonos, watching the celestial wonder.

"I forgot the Red Moon Festival was coming up!" Ino said, excited. "My dad told me the reason why the moon turns red is because of the light Mars reflects on it or something."

_"I remember Saburo-sensei mentioning the Red Moon Festival before,"_ Shizuka noted. _"Actually, that was the whole reason why we had to take that dangerous road. All the other ones were blocked off."_

"Have you ever been to a Red Moon Festival before, Shizuka?" asked Ino. Shizuka shook her head, which surprised Ino. "But you're from the Moon Village! Surely you would have celebrated it?"

_"The moon was just a normal thing to us,"_ Shizuka wrote._ "But this festival sounds interesting. I think I'd like to go."_

"You and I can go together," Ino suggested, smiling. "It's super fun, Shizuka. You can play games, eat sweets, even though I like to lay off the candy since it makes me fat, and you get to watch the moon turn red. Also, it's a great place to see and be seen." Ino looked at the date again. "June 19th is two days from now. What do you say?" Shizuka nodded her head, vigourously. Ino smiled. Shizuka smiled too. Ino had been right all along: Her luck had increased.


	19. A Long Awaited Moment

Shizuka gazed into the full length mirror that leaned against a vacant wall in her bedroom, smiling brightly. The last time she got all dolled up like this was when her eldest cousin, Osamu got married. She was nine at the time. Shizuka knew she'd probably sound conceited if she had a voice, but in the privacy of her mind, she thought she looked quite beautiful.

Gone were her bandaged shins, black skirt, red tank top, and leggings. Her bandanna was to rest on her bureau tonight, for she was not Shizuka the Leaf Kunoichi this evening. She was Shizuka the Pretty Girl, looking forward to having a good time with her friends.

"You look very nice tonight, Shizuka-chan," said Midori, sticking a small blosson into Shizuka's done up hair. Shizuka smiled wider.

Her mother had managed to put Shizuka's long black hair up and entwine with a few small flowers, and a lavender ribbon to match her daughter's kimono. The kimono Shizuka wore was very long, trailing down to her feet, followed by the attractively long sleeves. Along the cuff of the sleeves, and the hem of the elaborate dress were small flowers, identical to the ones in her hair, stitched into the fabric. A large, purple sash was wrapped around her waist and tied into a huge bow at the back.

Shizuka also wore some make up, which she never really wore knowing it would get messed up on her missions. Along her eyelids was a light purple-ish eye shadow, her eyelashes were lengthen with some mascara, and her lips were shimmering from the lip gloss she applied before.

_I feel so grown up! _she thought.

"Here, dear," Midori said, handing Shizuka a little purse. Inside it was her note pad, a pen, a tube of lip gloss, and half the amount of ryou Shizuka had accumulated from her missions. She smiled up at her mother and mouthed a, "thank you". Midori smiled as well.

"You better go meet Ino, now," she said, glancing at the digital clock on Shizuka's bedside table. "The festival's going to start soon."

Nodding, Shizuka waved goodbye to her mother, and left the house, heading towards the festival, feeling like a queen in her expensive kimono.

As she walked, Shizuka saw that everyone else who was headed towards the festival was dressed in fancy kimonos as well. Both men and women. The girl smiled. They all looked great.

"Hey, Shizuka!" called Ino's voice. Shizuka turned her head and saw her friend waiting for her on the street corner.

Ino looked very pretty as well. Her hair was done up in the same style as Shizuka's (save the flowers). Even the bang that always fell from her ponytail was held in place with hairspray and bobby pins. Her kimono was a firery red colour with black trim on the sleeves, hem, and collar. She had sash similar to Shizuka's wrapped around her waist with a big bow at the back, but it was red, matching her kimono. She wore a lot more make up than Shizuka did, adding eyeliner, foundation, and blush to her eye shadow, mascara and lipstick.

"Oh wow! You look amazing!" Ino said her. Shizuka smiled and nodded towards Ino, returning the compliment. Ino beamed.

"You like it?" She lifted one arm, showing off a droopy crimson sleeve. "Cost me an arm and a leg, but it was worth it! I'm gonna match the moon tonight!" The girls continued to chat as they walked towards Main Street, where the festival was being held.

Shizuka had never seen such an eventful festival. There were games, kiosks, and booths left and right. Although some people (mostly shinobi) weren't dressed up, the majority of the crowd were all wrapped up in Japan's traditional costume. Little kids played games and begged their parents for sweets. Teenagers ranging from Shizuka and Ino's age to young adult ate food, talked, and joined the children in games. Fathers kept a watchful eye over their kids while mothers held babies in their arms, socializing with one another. Shizuka took it all in, happy to become a normal teenager and just mingle with the Konaha citizens tonight.

"Hey! Look! There's a karaoke contest over there!" Ino said, pointing to a stand where many people where gathered. "Let's go watch it! I wanna see if anyone makes a fool of themselves!" Shizuka followed Ino up to the stand and watched as a nervous looking girl began the first verse of _Tokyo Kiddo _by the late Hibari Misora.

Throughout the festival, Shizuka and Ino played games, ate food (although Ino went out of her way to find some "low-cal" food), talked, and watched the full moon turn red. Despite being from the Getsugakure, Shizuka hadn't seen many lunar eclipses, and the ones she didn't see never turned the moon red. It was an awe-inspiring sight. She could see why the Konaha celebrated it.

Once the whole moon turned red, an all too familiar song began to blare from the speakers set up around the place. It was Under the Red Moon by Hasu.

"You know, I read in a magazine once," Ino said, "that the lead singer of Hasu wrote this song because she had her first kiss at the Red Moon Festival."

_"Really?" _Shizuka wrote.

"Yeah. But the article also said that was the last time she saw her boyfriend until recently," Ino added. "That's why she included the whole 'I dream we'll meet soon' part in the song."

_"That's sad." _

Ino nodded in agreement. She shot the full red moon a longing gaze and heaved a heavy sigh.

"I wish Sasuke would go to these things," she said. "Then maybe I could have my first kiss with him similar to Hasu's lead singer's." She sighed again. "Wouldn't that be romantic? Red _is_ the colour of love anyway." Shizuka nodded and couldn't help but to wonder if Shikamaru was here or not. If he was, she hadn't seen him.

Some time later, Shizuka and Ino had grown pretty tired and decided it was time to turn in for the night. They had already seen the whole moon turn red, they played all the games, and talked until there was nothing else to talk about. They made their way from Main Street, up to Tea Street, where the two friends bade each other good night, and set off towards their own homes.

Shizuka walked down the dark, lonely street, listening to Under the Red Moon play another time at the festival and the revelry that she had been a part of until she decided to go home.

She wondered what time it was. Midori had told her to be back before midnight. She wondered if she had broken the curfew. Shizuka glanced up at the red moon that shone it's rusty red light over the Leaf Village. It sure looked like she had broken it. Shizuka decided she better hurry home before her mother began to worry.

While walking down her street, she passed an alley way that she usually took as a short cut to get home. Shizuka was tired, and didn't want to get a lecture from Midori when she got home, so she decided to take the short cut.

Shizuka should have known, though, her short cut was not the same as it was in the day. Tonight, the alley way was eerily quiet and dark, and the girl shivered as she walked into a shady part of the alley. She didn't like this. She just wanted to go home. She began to trot towards the exit of the passage, when she bumped into someone, nearly knocking him down.

"Hey, who're you?" asked a slurred voice. Shizuka raised her hands a little, telling the person she was sorry she bumped into him. A large figure staggered into the moon light.

The man she had bumped into was very tall and burly. He had messy, dirty blonde hair, dull grey eyes, and a prominent chin. He was carrying a sake bottle in his hand. Shizuka could tell this guy had partied a little too much.

"You didn't say sorry, Missy," the man mumbled as he took a swig of sake. Shizuka looked up at the man, a little uneasy. She raised her hands again in apology and tried to walk by him, put the man put a heavy hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

"That's not very polite, walking off on someone" he said, annoyance lacing his voice. "Now, say your sorry!"

_I did! I did! _Shizuka thought desperately. She was beginning to feel scared. She assumed this man was too drunk to take her hand signs as an apology, so she got out her note pad and pen to write him a note, but the intoxicated man slapped it out of her hands.

"I don't want you to write me a check!" he slurred, taking another gulp of the rice wine in his hand. "Now apologize, you little brat!"

Shizuka got really scared now. She had no weapons on her, it was not a good idea to do tai-jutsu in a kimono, and she had used up most of her chakra in training earlier that day. She didn't know what to do. She felt her body begin to shake as the scary man advanced on her.

"Kids like you annoy me," he growled. "You don't know the meaning of respect or manners! I oughta teach you a lesson. How'd you like if I did this to you and didn't say sorry?" The man gave Shizuka a hard shove that nearly sent the poor girl down. She regained her balance with some difficulty, and stared up at the man, terrified.

"Now, if you don't say you're sorry, kid," he began, as he raised his fist. "I'm gonna..." Suddenly, the man trailed off and froze. Shizuka watched him apprehensively, waiting for him to try and hit her, but he did no such thing. Instead, he remained frozen. Suddenly, a voice sounded from behind the man.

"Leave her alone," it said. Shizuka turned her head, and saw her saviour standing behind the drunk man, his hands glued in the 'rat' seal, and his shadow had the man paralyzed. Shizuka gasped.

_Shikamaru! _

"Who's there!?" the man yelled. "What'd you do to me?" He tried to move but no prevail. "Let me go, kid!"

"I will, as long as you don't bother Shizuka," Shikamaru said. "She already apologized, you just didn't see." The man got a blank look on his face.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes," Shikamaru answered, rolling his eyes.

"Oh. Okay then." The ninja ceased his Shadow Possession Jutsu and watched as the man stumbled out of the alley way without a single complaint. Shikamaru sighed.

"That was real pain," he said. He turned to Shizuka. "You alright?" he asked.

Shizuka stared at her team mate as she leaned against the wall. Her knees were still shaking. She gazed at Shikamaru with wide eyes, breathing heavily. Before the mute teen could stop herself, Shizuka pushed herself up off the wall, took a few, awkward running steps towards Shikamaru, and threw her arms around him. She had never been so glad to see him.

Shikamaru, on his part, was taken aback. He had just been walking by the alley way, on his way home from the bothersome Red Moon festival when he heard a man demanding an apology from someone. When he saw that that someone was Shizuka, he reacted upon instinct and saved his team mate from danger.

But now, he wasn't so sure. Was it all insinct? Or was it because he may have actually cared for Shizuka, looking upon her as not only a commrade, but as... What did he think she was to him?

Shikamaru remembered Ino telling him more than once that he was uncool and probably had less of a chance with any girl than Sakura did with Sasuke (in her opinion). Shikamaru never cared about what she thought, or what any other girl thought. But, as Shizuka hung onto him now, locking him in a tight hug, he was starting to doubt himself. To be perfectly honest, he rather liked the feeling of the silent kunoichi's arms around his neck.

Shizuka had no intention of releasing her pash from her embrace just yet. Shikamaru had saved her twice, was there any other way she could thank him? Shizuka smiled inwardly, knowing perfectly well that only half of the hug was to say "thank you". The other half was meant to say what she had tried to tell him that night that seemed so long along when she kissed him on the cheek.

Shizuka eased up a bit on the embrace, and looked up at Shikamaru, smiling. Her team mate did not smile, but he said with good humour, "Can't you stay out of trouble for even a little while?" Shizuka shook her head as her team mate rolled his eyes.

"You're very troublesome, you know that?" he said. Shizuka continued to smile, holding Shikamaru's gaze as she did. She still had her arms around him.

Off in the distance, Hasu's number one hit played one last verse: "_Sky blue eyes, and lips well formed..."_

Shikamaru didn't have sky blue eyes, but Shizuka did notice his lips looked very 'kiss-able'.

_"Hands that make my own hands warm..."_

The two Leaf ninja weren't holding hands, but Shizuka felt warm all over. She wondered if the boy she was so close to now did too.

_" 'I love you' can't describe how I feel..."_

_No... It can't, _Shizuka admitted, still holding her commrade's gaze, unblinking.

_So, instead with a kiss, my love, I'll seal..._

Shizuka was starting to feel light headed. She closed her eyes, breaking eye contact with Shikamaru. Little did she realize it, but the whole time the song was playing, she had inched her face closer and closer to her team mate's. She could feel his heart beat against her chest. Her own heart beat sped up. She leaned a little closer to the boy she loved so dearly.

_I've been waiting for this moment for a long, long time, _she thought as she felt Shikamaru's light breathing upon her lips.

Then, the last chorus began.

_"Some day, I'll find you,  
Some day, I'll tell you it's true  
Be my tongue tied or my eyes shut,  
I'll still love you no matter what.  
But for now, I dream we'll meet soon,  
As you hold me tightly under the red moon..." _

Shizuka and Shikamaru remained in a soft, yet meaningful kiss long after Under the Red Moon ended.

--

**A little epilogue's coming up shortly just to wrap up the story even more :)**


	20. Two and a Half Years Later

Shikamaru walked down the street accompanied by Temari, heading towards the Hokage's office. Temari needed to ask Tsunade something about the Chuunin Exams that were coming up pretty soon. Shikamaru looked up at the sky and watched the clouds drift lazily in the sea of blue above him. He wished, not for the first time in his life, to be a cloud as well, doing nothing but drifting to and fro in the sky.

Suddenly, a voice calling his name snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Shikamaru! Temari-san! Hi!" Shikamaru and Temari looked up to see a team approaching them.

The team was made up of two girls and one boy. The boy of the group was tall, had dark grey eyes, and long black hair that fell to his shoulders. He was dressed in grey and black. One girl was about the same height as the boy with short brown hair, green eyes, and a cheerful smile on her face. She wore a green jacket similar to Shikamaru's. The other girl was someone Shikamaru knew well.

She had grown taller since she was thirteen, but she was still a little short. Her long black hair had grown too, and she now kept it up in a high ponytail on her head. But her familiar black eyes had stayed the same, along with most of her wardrobe (with the exception that her old red tank top was now replaced with a red, slightly V-necked shirt).

It was Team 11, consisting of Haruki Miyagi, Makoto Abe, and Shizuka Kobayashi.

"Oh, I know you," Temari said, as she studied the group of fifteen year old Chuunin. "Aren't you the kids who got chased by a rabid fox or something in The Forest of Death two years back?" Haruki and Makoto laughed while Shizuka smiled widely at the memory.

"Yup, that's us," Makoto said. "It was worth it, though! Being a Chuunin is great!"

"Being a Jonin is even better," Temari said. Haruki smiled and turned his gaze towards Shikamaru.

"Where're you off to?" he asked.

"Hokage's place," Shikamaru answered.

"We were just there," Makoto said. She smiled mysteriously. "You better hurry up and get there quickly. There's a surpirise over there." Shizuka smiled as Shikamaru made a confused face. She and her team were walking out of Tsunade's office after recieving their mission they were to complete when they ran into Sakura, and Naruto who had been away for so long. He changed a lot.

"Whatever," Shikamaru said, shrugging. He turned to Shizuka. "Going on a mission?" he asked. She nodded.

"For how long?"

Shizuka raised five fingers.

"Five days?"

Nod. Shikamaru knew his and Shizuka's shogi date would have to be moved to when she got back. Oh well.

"Anyways, we better get going," Haruki said. "Nice seeing you guys." Team 11 walked off, waving goodbye to Shikamaru and Temari, who recommenced their walking.

Unable to help herself, Shizuka glanced over her shoulder, stealing a glance at Shikamaru. He turned his head to look at her as well. Shizuka blew him a kiss goodbye. Smiling, Shikamaru turned back around, and faced forward while he walked.

**The End**

**--**

**Wow... I can't believe it's over. I can't believe I finished the story either! I had a lot of fun writing this, and I hoped you guys had even more fun reading it. Thank you to all my reviwers. Without you guys I probably would have lost interest in the story and not continued it. I'm gonna write another fanfic pretty soon, but I have to decide who I'm gonna write about. My friend suggested I write something about Neji, and I'm considering it, but he looks like such a hard character to write! Anyways, we'll see.**

**Thank you again, everyone! You've been great!**

**--The Last Kunoichi-- **


End file.
